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Scientists work to block bacterial communication using silver solution.\u00a0 Ending germs\u2019 \u201cchatter\u201d is key to treating illness using electrically charged silver atoms. As researchers identify the signals bacteria use to build and maintain biofilms, their biotechnology colleagues are following right behind, trying to develop new antibiotics that interfere with bacterial communication.\u00a0 Silver atoms hold a unique electrical charge called Zeta Potential which can neutralize bacterial communication without corrosive oxidation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n ST. LOUIS, Jan. 13 \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Most folks wouldn\u2019t last long without telephones, traffic lights and television, not to mention plain old talk. Communication is vital to just about everything we do. It\u2019s the same with bacteria. Until recently, microbiologists saw them as solitary beings floating out of touch with one another in the vastness of the human bloodstream or a gallon of milk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n NOW SCIENTISTS have discovered that bacteria talk to one another constantly, often cooperating in the construction of intricate multicellular communities, known as biofilms, that allow them to thrive in ways they never could as single-celled individuals. Unfortunately, these bustling bacterial cities often create debilitating or life-threatening infections inside the human body. But scientists hope that disrupting bacterial communications might offer a new way of treating these infections. \u201cBacteria really like to grow in communities, covered in slime,\u201d biofilm expert J. William Costerton said during a recent briefing sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and Washington University in St. Louis. Biofilms have been found in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis and on the gums of people suffering from periodontal disease. They have been associated with tuberculosis, prostatitis and the chronic ear infections that plague many young children. They are especially prevalent on catheters, artificial heart valves, contact lenses and other implanted medical devices. Costerton estimated that biofilms account for the majority of chronic bacterial infections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As researchers identify the signals bacteria use to build and maintain biofilms, their biotechnology colleagues are following right behind, trying to develop new antibiotics that interfere with bacterial communication. Microbiologists first realized the importance of biofilms about a decade ago, when Costerton and several colleagues began using a new kind of microscope to look at slimy masses of bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which clogs the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. In 1991, the scientists demonstrated that they were not just undifferentiated clumps, but intricate structures threaded with pores and channels for transporting nutrients in and waste out. The bacteria were embedded in a sticky protective goo that stuck them to one another and just about anything else that might be around. Just as social scientists marvel at the differentiation of cities into distinct neighborhoods, microbiologists have been amazed at the intricacy of biofilms. The unpleasant film that coats a person\u2019s mouth overnight, for example, is actually a highly organized bacterial community so complex that it almost seems a shame to just brush it all away. The typical dental plaque contains hundreds of different species. The outermost ones couldn\u2019t even survive if their inner neighbors didn\u2019t first lay down a suitable substrate. \u201cOnly the first few can stick to you teeth,\u201d said Bonnie Bassler, a Princeton University biologist who received a MacArthur \u201cgenius\u201d award this year for her research in bacterial communication. \u201cThe rest stick to them.\u201d Their layered structure makes biofilms hard to kill with traditional antibiotics, which often cannot penetrate beyond the outermost suburbs of a bacterial settlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More importantly, current drugs such as penicillin and erythromycin were designed to work against rapidly growing and dividing cells. But most of the bacteria in biofilms are hunkered down in a semi-dormant state, making them much harder to kill with existing drugs. Recent studies also show that bacteria also synchronize their behavior when they create a biofilm, simultaneously turning on different genes than they use while floating around. And many of those genes make them even more resistant to traditional antibiotics. \u201cThe entire conglomerate changes its gene expression at once,\u201d Bassler said. \u201cHundreds of genes switch from on to off or off to on.\u201d Bassler won her $500,000 MacArthur grant for research into the chemical signals bacteria use to tell each other when to turn on genes governing biofilm formation and other coordinated behaviors. The microbes essentially communicate by smell, releasing chemicals into the environment that are picked up by nearby individuals.\u00a0Bassler estimates that bacteria produce dozens of these signals, but so far she has investigated only two. \u201cThis is a baby field,\u201d she said. Even so, researchers believe they can find ways to block bacterial communication. For example, a drug that blocked the right signal could prevent biofilm formation altogether. Signal blocking might also disable a biofilm\u2019s resistance to antibiotics, or prevent the bacteria in it from producing a harmful toxin. Using a different strategy, a drug could mimic signals that prevent biofilm formation or cause existing biofilms to break apart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A small biotechnology company, Quorex Pharmaceuticals, is already trying to develop drugs based on Bassler\u2019s research. If the company could manufacture a chemical that discouraged biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, for example, it would be a boon for cystic fibrosis patients, most of whom die of infections caused by the bacteria. \u201cThere\u2019s this buildup of people getting closer and closer to identifying these mechanisms,\u201d said Bart Henderson, vice president of business development for Microbia, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., another biotechnology company that is working in the field.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In September, Microbia scientists announced that Staphylococcus aureus \u2013 a cause of food poisoning, pneumonia, toxic shock syndrome and many other infections \u2013 bolsters itself against antibiotics when it forms a biofilm by turning on a gene called fmtC. When the researchers disabled the fmtC gene by mutating the bacteria, the microbes\u2019 sensitivity to antibiotics returned. That experiment suggests a drug that blocks the effects of fmtC might prove effective against biofilm infections. Henderson said Microbia has already found a number of chemical compounds that appear to do just that. This is new territory,\u201d he said. \u201cTrying to harness the physiology in ways we couldn\u2019t before is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row tm_bgimagefixed=”” css=”.vc_custom_1665065727174{margin-top: 4px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 4px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”3280″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row tm_bgimagefixed=”” css=”.vc_custom_1665065701088{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_separator][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row tm_bgimagefixed=”” css=”.vc_custom_1665004846055{margin-top: 4px !important;border-top-width: 4px !important;padding-top: 4px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text] Scientists work to block bacterial communication … Continue reading Bacteria And Biofilm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3257"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3281,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3257\/revisions\/3281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong>CUTTING OFF COMMUNICATION<\/strong><\/div>\n