UCSD researchers find promising new avenues for treating infections
... infect nearly every part of the body and produces toxins that damage tissues. In the study to be published in the October 17th issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers report that when the bacterium injects a toxin called "ExoU" with a tiny needle-like structure into cells, the toxin d...Tufts University wins $25-million NIH contract
...d control diseases caused by infectious agents and toxins that could affect the nation's food and water supply. "This award recognizes the important role that veterinarians play in addressing public health threats," said Lawrence S. Bacow, Tufts University president. "Nearly 76 million illnesses and 5,00...Scientists develop advanced sensors for biological agent detection
...t from this analysis because many chemical warfare toxins are oxidative," says Smith. "Not only can drinking water systems be protected this way, but disastrous direct attacks on wastewater treatment, especially for large cities, can be prevented." Several challenges exist. For example, industry participant...Brookhaven Lab develops 'ThraxVac' to clean up anthrax
...acterium does not contain or produce the dangerous toxins that anthrax produces....Roderick MacKinnon wins 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
... the bacterial potassium channel. Because scorpion toxins are known to fit the channels they block exactly, like a lock and key, this suggests that the bacterial, mammalian and fly channels share the same structure. "It's as if nature settled on one way to make a potassium channel," says MacKinnon. The pota...New medicines at risk from biodiversity loss
...sh, and other molluscs by injecting a cocktail of toxins through a hollow, harpoon-like tooth. Each species... only about 100 of the estimated 50,000 cone snail toxins have been characterized, and only a handful tested for pharmacologic activity. The results have extr...Pollutant-eating microbe could speed gasworks cleanup
...tar, known as polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, are toxins that his research group hopes to degrade. The use of SIP to identify pollutant-eating microbes is something like using the milk-mustache test to discover which child drank the milk. In the first successful field application of SIP in a contaminated ...Ethical guidelines needed before 'nutrigenomic' groceries come to market
...bolism of certain nutrients and the elimination of toxins from the body. Another sells tests to identify a person's genetic risk for heart disease, stroke, hormone dysfunction, rapid bone loss and certain cancers. The introduction and expansion of nutritional genetic services raises important questions abou...US crackdown on bioterror backfiring
...select agents", a list of 82 viruses, bacteria and toxins that could be used as weapons. The list includes the agents responsible for many significant diseases that affect people, livestock or plants, including foot and mouth disease and the BSE prion that causes mad cow disease. Even botulinum toxin is on...Small-molecule inhibitors of botulinum neurotoxin identified
...inds to surface receptors on nerve terminals. The toxins are then internalized into the nerve terminal. Once inside, the light chain separates from the heavy chain and cleaves, or cuts, specific proteins that control neuromuscular function. Cleavage of these proteins effectively blocks the release of ne...Over land, sea and air, users give MERIS high marks
...'bloom' out of control. Some algae species contain toxins that can poison humans who eat contaminated shellfish. Alternatively the spreading blooms can deplete water of oxygen as they decay, causing larger fish to suffocate. Fish farms are especially vulnerable to algae blooms because fish cannot flee affe...UC Riverside researchers publish paper on botulism detection system
...to wider practice to detect one of the most potent toxins known to man. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta list botulism as one of the six most dangerous bioterrorism threats. Other such bio-threats include anthrax, plague and smallpox. "The important thing to note is that the techn...A little stress may be good for you
...s, bacterial and viral infections, and exposure to toxins such as heavy metals, all of which challenge the environment of the cell. A master protein called heat shock factor senses the stress and responds by turning on the genes that encode molecular chaperones. Proteins are basic components of all livi...Venom hunt finds 'harmless' snakes a potential danger
...e neurotoxin, one that is as potent as comparative toxins found in close relatives of the cobra," he says. F...s also uncovered a vast range of new and unstudied toxins for toxinologists. "The natural pharmacology that exists witihin animal venoms is a tremendous reso...American Society for Microbiology publication provides guidance for shipping biological agents
...nsible for the shipment of dangerous pathogens and toxins by land or air carriers are required to comply with detailed and sometimes confusing national and international transport regulations. Cumitech 40: Packing and Shipping of Diagnostic Specimens and Infectious Substances summarizes the most recent reg...New study identifies inhibitor of anthrax toxin
...a, indicating that the patients have died from the toxins rather than a persistent infection. Using a "mixture-based peptide library" technique developed by Turk, the researchers analyzed trillions of peptides to determine an optimal peptide substrate for lethal factor, the active agent in the anthrax toxi...Study by UCSD gives new insight into how anthrax bacteria can evade a host's immune response
...ough it was known for quite some time that anthrax toxins can suppress cytokine production, the mechanism by...rophages are killed by anthrax toxins, but anthrax toxins diminish the production of cytokines in all of the macrophages we have tested," David explains. "Als...Farmed salmon more toxic than wild salmon, study finds
...salmon has shown that PCBs and other environmental toxins are present at higher levels in farm-raised salmon...n to know that farmed salmon have higher levels of toxins than wild salmon from the open ocean," said IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs Distinguis...Fat cells fight disease, Purdue University researchers find
...that adipocyte cells respond directly to bacterial toxins like classical immune cells." To produce this infection-fighting response, Ajuwon, a doctoral student, performed experiments exposing fat cells to interferon-gamma, a small protein produced by infection-fighting T-cells. This caused the adipocytes ......ne system. It resists antibiotics and it secretes toxins similar to those used by diphtheria or anthrax. "This is the most lethal of the opportunistic pathogens," he adds. "Patients with widespread Pseudomonas infection can die in a matter of days." A coating with a high molecular weight polymer however...