Latest PLoS Pathogens Stories

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have demonstrated that the Anopheles mosquito's innate immune system could be genetically engineered to block the transmission of malaria-causing parasites to humans. In addition, they showed that the genetic modification had limited impact on the mosquito's fitness under laboratory conditions. The researchers' findings are published December 22nd in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens. In this study, Dimopoulos and his team...

• The study focuses on the protein Ler, which is present in the pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli that caused an outbreak of food poisoning in Germany last May. • Ler binds multiple DNA sequences, thereby activating numerous genes responsible for bacterial virulence. • The findings of the study have been published in PloS Pathogens. A team headed by scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) reports how the protein Ler, which is found in...

Scientists have found the 'key' that HIV uses to enter our cells' nuclei, allowing it to disable the immune system and cause AIDS. The finding, published today in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens, provides a potential new target for anti-AIDS drugs that could be more effective against drug-resistant strains of the virus. HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids, primarily infected blood or semen. Once inside the bloodstream, the virus infects key components of the immune system...

Bacteria responsible for middle ear infections, pink eye and sinusitis protect themselves from further immune attack by transporting molecules meant to destroy them away from their inner membrane target, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital. The study, published in the November issue of PLoS Pathogens, is the first to describe a transporter system that bacteria use to ensure their survival. When the body senses an infection, one of the first lines of defense is to send...

Infectious diseases specialists from Austin Health are working closely with Microbiologists from the University of Melbourne to understand how Staph is becoming resistant to all antibiotic therapies. The treatment of serious infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus (Golden Staph) is complicated by the development of antibiotic resistance. Seriously ill patients, vulnerable to infections can be at additional risk if antimicrobial agents become less effective in fighting infections....

New virus could be the first filovirus to cause disease in bats A team of international researchers has discovered a new Ebola-like virus – Lloviu virus -- in bats from northern Spain. Lloviu virus is the first known filovirus native to Europe, they report in a study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens on Octobr 20th. The study was a collaboration among scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the Instituto...

A novel mechanism has been identified in which Chlamydia trachomatis tricks host cells into taking up the bacteria. Researchers from University of California San Francisco, led by Joanne Engel, report their findings in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens on October 6th. Dr. Engel and colleagues show that Chlamydia coat themselves with a growth factor made by the cells of the organism they are infecting. This disguise allows the bacteria to infect cells, much like a Trojan horse. Once...

A researcher at MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer research has identified a gene that controls the process by which antibodies gain their ability to combat retroviruses. Edward Browne shows that the gene TLR7 allows the antibody generating B cells to detect the presence of a retrovirus and promotes a process by which antibodies gain strength and potency, called a germinal center reaction. The findings are published in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens on October 6th. TLR7 is...

When the virus that causes AIDS infects the central nervous system, it can lead to the development of a severe neurological disease called HIV-associated dementia (HAD). The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, has helped reduce HAD. But some studies show that HAART may not offer complete protection from less severe HIV-associated neurological problems, nor might it always help to reverse it. As people live longer with AIDS, their risk of developing neurological...

Fresh insight into how viruses such as SARS and flu can jump from one species to another may help scientists predict the emergence of diseases in future. Researchers have shown that viruses are better able to infect species that are closely related to their typical target species than species that are distantly related. Their results suggest that when diseases make the leap to a distant species – such as bird flu infecting humans – they may then spread easily in species closely...