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Valuable insight into immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells.

22 Apr 2011

Researchers reveal how immune system distinguishes between beneficial and pathogenic organisms

The human gut is filled with 100 trillion symbiotic bacteria-ten times more microbial cells than our own cells-representing close to one thousand different species. "And yet, if you were to eat a piece of chicken with just a few Salmonella, your immune system would mount a potent inflammatory response," says Sarkis K. Mazmanian, assistant professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

22 Apr 2011

Scientists discover new mechanism behind Salmonella invasion into gut cells

Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany have discovered a new, hitherto unknown mechanism of Salmonella invasion into gut cells: In this entry mode, the bacteria exploit the muscle power of cells to be pulled into the host cell cytoplasm.

22 Apr 2011

CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line aims to educate women about meningitis

The California Teratogen Information Service Pregnancy Health Information Line, a state-wide non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego with affiliates across North America, will join in the effort to raise awareness of meningitis prevention by helping to launch a new study that will assess safety of the meningitis vaccine in pregnancy.

22 Apr 2011

USPTO issues patent to Oragenics ProBiora3 for oral care

Florida-based biopharmaceutical company Oragenics, Inc. announced today the issuance of patent number 7931892 from the United States Patent and Trademark office for ProBiora3, a proprietary blend of naturally occurring oral bacteria shown to produce a wide range of oral care benefits.

22 Apr 2011

FDA warns four firms to stop making unproven MRSA prevention claims

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued four warning letters to companies that manufacture and market over-the-counter (OTC) drug products, including hand sanitizers, that claim to prevent infection from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA).

21 Apr 2011

Humans have three different gut types, finds study

In the future, when you walk into a doctor's surgery or hospital, you could be asked not just about your allergies and blood group, but also about your gut type. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and collaborators in the international MetaHIT consortium, have found that humans have 3 different gut types.

21 Apr 2011

Furiex acquires full rights to JNJ-Q2, a novel broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has acquired full exclusive license rights to develop and commercialize the compound JNJ-Q2 under its existing development and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V.. Furiex acquired these rights as a result of Janssen's decision not to exercise its option under the agreement that gave Janssen the opportunity to continue development of JNJ-Q2.

20 Apr 2011

IBD patients at greater risk of death if infected with Clostridium difficile

Patients admitted to hospital with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) face a sixfold greater risk of death if they become infected with Clostridium difficile, a new study has found. The researchers say IBD patients should be screened on admission to protect them from serious illness.

20 Apr 2011

Chronic inflammation due to infection may lead to cancer

A new study shows how inflammation can help cause cancer. Chronic inflammation due to infection or to conditions such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease is associated with up to 25 percent of all cancers.

20 Apr 2011

OSU biophysicist leverages computer cluster to develop drug to block small protein molecule IL-6

An Ohio State biophysicist used a supercomputer to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer.

20 Apr 2011

Opinions: Cambodian aid; Tobin tax; Japan recovery; Inflation, infectious disease in Asia

In a Washington Post opinion piece, Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University who authored a book about Cambodia, writes about a donor-pledge meeting in Cambodia scheduled for Wednesday and discusses a potential law that would require NGOs to register with the government.

20 Apr 2011

Ohio State biophysicist disrupts cellular messages through fragment-based drug design

An Ohio State biophysicist used a supercomputer to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer.

19 Apr 2011

Commonly used strategy has no effect in reducing MRSA, VRE in hospital ICUs

A new research study of the effect of a commonly used strategy to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospital intensive care units shows that the strategy had no significant effect. That's the surprising finding of a multisite study led by Mayo Clinic investigators.

19 Apr 2011

Sugar-based vaccine against Helicobacter pylori

A potential vaccine against bacteria that cause serious gastric disorders including stomach cancer may be a step closer following a pioneering study by a University of Guelph chemist.

19 Apr 2011

Study: Borna disease virus does not contain exact copies of genomic RNAs

Like bacteria, viruses have their own genome. The ends or termini of a viral RNA are especially interesting for virologists because they play an important role in reproduction and in the reaction of the innate immune system to the virus.

18 Apr 2011

Drug resistant bug plaguing the meat industry: Study

It has been found that nearly half of the meat and poultry (47 percent) sold in U.S. grocery stores is contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (“Staph”), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, and this bacteria is resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics in more than half (52 percent) of contaminated samples. This comes from a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

17 Apr 2011

Legionnaire’s bug in Playboy mansion hot tub

Health officials have been able to trace the cause of the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease after a two-month investigation. They found the bug in the hot tub of the Playboy mansion.

17 Apr 2011

WHO will assist Indian officials in exploring threat of NDM-1 in water supply

The WHO has said it will assist government officials evaluating whether the presence of bacteria containing the NDM-1 gene in the water supply in New Delhi poses health risks, Agence France-Presse reports. The announcement comes after the Lancet last week published a report that bacteria carrying NDM-1, a gene that enables resistance to a variety of antibiotics, "was found in 51 out of 171 New Delhi samples taken from water pools and two out of 50 tap water samples," the news service writes.

16 Apr 2011

New in vitro study results show that wound dressing with ionic silver kills strains of highly-resistant bacteria

ConvaTec, a world-leading developer and marketer of innovative medical technologies for community and hospital care, today announced new in vitro study results showing that a wound dressing containing ionic silver is able to kill several strains of highly-resistant bacteria, commonly referred to as 'superbugs.'

16 Apr 2011