JCI Table of Contents: July 20, 2006
BACTERIOLOGY
Pseudomonas needs neuraminidase for pulmonary infection
Therapeutics targeting a surface-bound enzyme encoded by the influenza virus neuraminidase are highly effective antiviral treatments. Although many bacterial pathogens, including the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also encode neuraminidases, whether these enzymes are important for bacterial pathogenesis such that they would be appropriate antibacterial targets has not been clear, until now.
In a study appearing online on July 20 in advance of print publication in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Alice Prince and colleagues from Columbia University report that mice rapidly clear bacteria from the respiratory tract following intranasal infection with mutant P. aeruginosa lacking neuraminidase whereas they cannot clear wild-type P. aeruginosa. In contrast, mice were equally susceptible to intraperitoneal infection with wild-type and mutant P. aeruginosa, indicating a role for neuraminidase in the initial stages of respiratory infection.
P. aeruginosa often grows in a biofilm – a complex clustering of microorganisms marked by the excretion of a protective and adhesive matrix material that helps organisms to adhere to surfaces and communicate with each other. In the current study the authors' analysis showed that biofilm formation by mutant P. aeruginosa lacking neuraminidase was markedly impaired and that biofilm formation by wild-type P. aeruginosa could be abrogated in a dose-dependent manner by influenza virus neuraminidase inhibitors. These data indicate that the P. aeruginosa neuraminidase is crucial for the initial colonization of the respiratory tract and have led the authors to suggest that neuraminidase could provide a new target to prevent infection with this bacterium. This would be a particularly welcome development for cystic fibrosis patients, who are predisposed to P. aeruginosa infection of the lungs.
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Alice Prince
Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Phone: (212) 305-4193; Fax: (212) 342-5728; E-mail: asp7@columbia.edu.
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=27920
Pseudomonas needs neuraminidase for pulmonary infection
Therapeutics targeting a surface-bound enzyme encoded by the influenza virus neuraminidase are highly effective antiviral treatments. Although many bacterial pathogens, including the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also encode neuraminidases, whether these enzymes are important for bacterial pathogenesis such that they would be appropriate antibacterial targets has not been clear, until now.
In a study appearing online on July 20 in advance of print publication in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Alice Prince and colleagues from Columbia University report that mice rapidly clear bacteria from the respiratory tract following intranasal infection with mutant P. aeruginosa lacking neuraminidase whereas they cannot clear wild-type P. aeruginosa. In contrast, mice were equally susceptible to intraperitoneal infection with wild-type and mutant P. aeruginosa, indicating a role for neuraminidase in the initial stages of respiratory infection.
P. aeruginosa often grows in a biofilm – a complex clustering of microorganisms marked by the excretion of a protective and adhesive matrix material that helps organisms to adhere to surfaces and communicate with each other. In the current study the authors' analysis showed that biofilm formation by mutant P. aeruginosa lacking neuraminidase was markedly impaired and that biofilm formation by wild-type P. aeruginosa could be abrogated in a dose-dependent manner by influenza virus neuraminidase inhibitors. These data indicate that the P. aeruginosa neuraminidase is crucial for the initial colonization of the respiratory tract and have led the authors to suggest that neuraminidase could provide a new target to prevent infection with this bacterium. This would be a particularly welcome development for cystic fibrosis patients, who are predisposed to P. aeruginosa infection of the lungs.
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TITLE: Bacterial neuraminidase facilitates mucosal infection by participating in biofilm productionAUTHOR CONTACT:
Alice Prince
Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Phone: (212) 305-4193; Fax: (212) 342-5728; E-mail: asp7@columbia.edu.
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=27920
###
Public release date: 20-Jul-2006
Contact: Brooke Grindlinger
press_releases@the-jci.org
212-342-9006
Journal of Clinical Investigation
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