Open wide: Research into bacterial channel brings hope for fighting superbugs
1 September 2008
In a study part-funded by the Wellcome Trust, scientists have described for the first time how channels that protect bacteria from high pressure operate. The findings, published in the journal Science, could be used to develop new chemicals to fight potentially deadly bacteria, including so-called superbugs.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the University of St Andrews explored tiny channels in the walls of bacteria, which act as pressure-release valves, opening when the pressure inside bacterial cells gets too high.
Leader of the Aberdeen team, Professor Ian Booth, explains: “Channels in bacteria perform absolutely key roles in cell survival. We have been able to show how this channel opens and closes. Understanding how they work will play a major role in inhibiting the survival of bacteria and could have applications as basic as cleansing hospital equipment and wards or helping to make food safer."
The researchers showed that the bacterial system is mechanical. The channel senses the pressure inside the bacterium, then alters its shape to create an opening that releases the pressure, to prevent it building up and killing the bacterium.
"Not only is this a major step forward in scientific understanding of a fundamental process in biology but it paves the way for the development of new drugs against bacteria," says Professor Jim Naismith, who led the team from St Andrews.
“New chemicals designed to force channels to stay open or shut, are likely to kill or at the very least, greatly slow down the growth of bacteria. Slowing down the growth gives the body’s natural defences time to tackle its bacterial invader."
Watch animations of the channels opening and closing (courtesy of Professor James Naismith, University of St Andrews):
- Molecular surface representation [QuickTime movie 13.1MB]
- Ribbon representation looking down into the channel [QuickTime movie 25.4MB]
- Ribbon representation looking at the channel from the side [QuickTime movie 20.1MB]
Image: Ribbon representation of the open form of the channel; Professor James Naismith, University of St Andrews
References
Wang W et al. The structure of an open form of an E. coli mechanosensitive channel at 3.45 Å resolution. Science 2008;321:1179-1183.