Pneumolysin News and Research

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Current and future strategies for vaccinating against invasive pneumococcal disease

Researchers reviewed the immune mechanisms employed by existing vaccines for invasive pneumococcal disease.

23 Aug 2023

T cell-mediated recognition of conserved bacterial epitope generates broad immunity

Typically T cells of the immune system respond to a specific feature (antigen) of a microbe, thereby generating protective immunity.

25 Apr 2023

Pneumolysin toxin holds promise for developing therapies against Streptococcus pneumoniae

In a recent study published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers in Spain performed a systematic review of pneumolysin (PLY) toxin as a molecular target to develop novel therapeutics against Streptococcus pneumoniae.

27 Mar 2023

The impact of early life microbial colonization and respiratory diseases on the respiratory microbiome

Researchers reviewed the impact of the interactions between the respiratory microbiota and the immune system.

13 Jan 2023

Scientists identify new virulence mechanism for a surface protein on pneumonia-causing bacteria

A bout with flu virus can be hard, but when Streptococcus pneumonia enters the mix, it can turn deadly.

24 Jun 2021

Breakthrough research reveals how deadly pneumococcus avoids immune defenses

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered a new and important function of a toxin produced by disease-causing bacteria that could have significant implications for future vaccine design.

12 Nov 2018

Study shows how pneumococci challenge the immune system

Pneumococci are the most common cause of respiratory tract infections, such as otitis and sinusitis, as well as of severe infections like pneumonia and meningitis.

12 Nov 2018

New target for pneumonia seems to restore tight barriers and fluid clearance in the lungs

Severe pneumonia causes a buildup of fluid in the lungs that makes the basics of breathing and getting oxygen out to the body difficult to impossible.

25 Jul 2018

Sodium channels play important role in keeping tiny lung capillaries from leaking, worsening pneumonia

Sodium channels in the cells that line the tiny capillaries in our lungs play an important role in keeping those capillaries from leaking and potentially worsening conditions like pneumonia, scientists report.

6 Sep 2017

S. pneumoniae uses hosts' immune defenses to spread infection, study reveals

The bacteria that cause most cases of pneumonia worldwide secrete a toxin that helps them jump from one body to the next - with help from the hosts' immune defenses. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online January 11 in Cell Host & Microbe.

12 Jan 2017

Scientists create detailed image of deadly toxin linked to bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia

Scientists from the University of Leicester have for the first time created a detailed image of a toxin - called pneumolysin - associated with deadly infections such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia.

25 Nov 2015

Toxin pneumolysin causes progressive and fatal heart complications

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen and is known to be associated with increased risk of fatal heart complications including heart failure and heart attacks.

19 May 2015

Bacterial respiratory tract colonization before catching influenza may protect against severe disease

Many studies have shown that more severe illness and even death are likely to result if you develop a secondary respiratory infection after developing influenza. Now, however, a team of researchers based at The Wistar Institute has determined that if you reverse the order of infection, the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae (often called pneumococcus) may actually protect against a bad case of the flu.

11 Jul 2014

Potential way to block second wave of death from pneumonia treatment

An international research team may have found a way to block a second wave of death that can result from pneumonia treatment.

1 Feb 2012

Experimental vaccine appears to protect against pneumonia

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed an experimental vaccine that appears to protect against an increasingly common and particularly deadly form of pneumococcal pneumonia. Details of the new vaccine, which was tested in an animal model, are reported in a paper published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

22 Feb 2011

Discovery on immune system paves way to new vaccine against pneumococcal disease

A new breakthrough in the fight against pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia has been announced today by scientists in Leicester and Dublin. The discovery will lead to a dramatic shift in our understanding of how the body's immune system responds to infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and pave the way for more effective vaccines.

12 Nov 2010

Proteins to punch holes in cancer cells to kill them: Study

In a medical breakthrough scientists have found a protein called perforin that kills rogue cells in the human body especially the ones causing cancer. The team comprising of experts from Melbourne and London found that perforin punches holes and kills these cells. The research appeared in the acclaimed journal Nature.

31 Oct 2010

New understanding of what makes a major global bacterial infection deadly

Researchers believe they have discovered why a bacterial lung infection is so lethal in the early stages, and it's not what medical authorities had thought, according to research published in the journal Immunity.

28 Aug 2007