Crafty Bacteria Change Shape To Evade Antibiotics
"Antibiotics — medications that destroy or slow down bacteria growth — are becoming increasingly less effective as the pathogens find new ways to evade the drugs. Some produce pumps that flush the antibacterial medicines out from the bacterial cell, while others modify themselves, so they are unrecognizable as targets. Now, researchers at UK's Newcastle University have recorded the germs shedding their outer skins and changing their shapes to avoid detection.
Most bacteria are surrounded by a cell wall. The outer layer, which is akin to the human skin, protects the organisms against environmental stresses and prevents the cell from bursting. It also helps the human immune system flag the pathogen as a foreign entrant.
“Imagine that the wall is like the bacteria wearing a high-vis jacket,” explains study lead author Dr. Katarzyna Mickiewicz. “This gives them a regular shape, for example, a rod or a sphere, making them strong and protecting them but also makes them highly visible – particularly to the human immune system and antibiotics like penicillin.” However, once the pathogens shed their walls, they become "invisible" and, therefore, hard to target.
The study, published in Nature Communications on September 26, 2019, focused on the various bacteria associated with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in elderly patients. It found that many different bacterial species – including E. coli and Enterococcus – avoid the drugs by resorting to what researchers call "L-form switching." This clever technique, whereby a bacterium sheds its cell wall and takes on an L-shaped form, has been known since the 1930s. However, the pathogens' evasive nature has made it difficult for scientists to study it in detail."
Please Note: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.
"Antibiotics — medications that destroy or slow down bacteria growth — are becoming increasingly less effective as the pathogens find new ways to evade the drugs. Some produce pumps that flush the antibacterial medicines out from the bacterial cell, while others modify themselves, so they are unrecognizable as targets. Now, researchers at UK's Newcastle University have recorded the germs shedding their outer skins and changing their shapes to avoid detection.
Most bacteria are surrounded by a cell wall. The outer layer, which is akin to the human skin, protects the organisms against environmental stresses and prevents the cell from bursting. It also helps the human immune system flag the pathogen as a foreign entrant.
“Imagine that the wall is like the bacteria wearing a high-vis jacket,” explains study lead author Dr. Katarzyna Mickiewicz. “This gives them a regular shape, for example, a rod or a sphere, making them strong and protecting them but also makes them highly visible – particularly to the human immune system and antibiotics like penicillin.” However, once the pathogens shed their walls, they become "invisible" and, therefore, hard to target.
The study, published in Nature Communications on September 26, 2019, focused on the various bacteria associated with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in elderly patients. It found that many different bacterial species – including E. coli and Enterococcus – avoid the drugs by resorting to what researchers call "L-form switching." This clever technique, whereby a bacterium sheds its cell wall and takes on an L-shaped form, has been known since the 1930s. However, the pathogens' evasive nature has made it difficult for scientists to study it in detail."
Please Note: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.
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