Some representatives of protozoa parasites

Chemically Synthesized Molecules with the Targeting and Effector Functions of Antibodies

        Researchers at Yale University have created the first synthetic molecules that have both the targeting and response functions of antibodies. Published yesterday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the paper describes a molecule twenty times smaller than natural antibodies that recognises cancer cells and induces an immune response. The synthetic antibody mimics (SyAMs) are unlikely to cause unwanted immune reactions, are thermally stable, and could be administered orally.

Metformin as adjunct antituberculosis therapy

        According to research led by the Singapore Immunology Network, Metformin, a treatment for diabetes, may be used to boost the efficacy of tuberculosis drugs. Screening FDA-approved drugs, the researchers found that Metformin helps cells combat the bacterium by increasing the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and facilitating phagosome-lysosome fusion. Because these responses indirectly damage M. tuberculosis, the researchers suspect it will not induce resistance in the bacterium. Furthermore, the drug is cheap and safe with few side effects.

Microbiology: Ditch the term pathogen

        Disease is as much about the host as it is the infectious agent the focus on microbes is hindering research into treatments, say Arturo Casadevall and Liise-anne Pirofski. The term pathogen started to be used in the late 1880s to mean a microbe that can cause disease. Ever since, scientists have been searching for properties in bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites that account for their ability to make us ill. Yet a microbe cannot cause disease without a host. What actually kills people with diphtheria, for example, is the strong inflammatory response that the diphtheria toxin triggers, including a thick grey coating on the throat that can obstruct breathing. Likewise, it is the massive activation of white blood cells triggered by certain strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria that can lead to toxic-shock syndrome. Instead of focusing on what microbes do or do not do, researchers should ask whether an interaction between a host and a microbe damages the host, and if so, how. This approach will require different tools and potentially more alliances between microbiologists and immunologists.

Gut Bacteria is found highly protective against malaria transmission

        In a breakthrough study published on Cell*, a research team led by Miguel Soares at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC; Portugal) discovered that specific bacterial components in the human gut microbiota can trigger a natural defense mechanism that is highly protective against malaria transmission.

New drug eliminates the malaria parasite within 48 hours in mice

        An international team of scientists has developed an anti-malarial compound that triggers the immune system to destroy red blood cells infected by malaria, but leaves healthy cells unharmed. The compound, known as (+)-SJ733, has already been tested in mice, and a single dose has been shown to kill 80 percent of malaria parasites in the bloodstream within 24 hours. Within 48 hours the parasite was completely undetectable. The new compound works by disrupting the activity of the ATP4 protein in the parasites - this protein functions as a pump that the parasites need to maintain their proper sodium balance

World-first artificial enzymes suggest life doesn't need DNA or RNA

        Scientists in the UK have created synthetic enzymes - vital catalysts needed to support life - from scratch, using genetic material created in the lab. These enzymes don’t contain DNA or RNA, they contain artificial XNA - xeno nucleic acid. The XNA enzymes can’t yet copy themselves but they can cut and paste RNA, just like natural enzymes do, and even paste together fragments of XNA.

(+)-SJ733, a clinical candidate for malaria that acts through ATP4 to induce rapid host-mediated clearance of Plasmodium

        Researchers at the Australian National University have identified a clinical candidate that increases clearance of malaria in vivo by inducing eryptosis in infected erythrocytes. The molecule, known as (+)-SJ733, inhibits a proton pump on Plasmodium falciparum, causing it to swell and burst. Although the parasite developed resistance to the drug in vivo, these mutations carried a high fitness cost. Additionally, (+)-SJ733 meets all other criteria for a clinical candidate: high oral bioavailability, high safety margin, and transmission blocking activity

PCR: Moving Beyond Traditional Methods

        Denature, anneal, extend, repeat. Sure, you can run a PCR in your sleep but the technology is changing rapidly! Check-out Thursday's free online webinar and stay on top of emerging PCR technologies.

HIV appears to be evolving into less deadly, less infectious form

        A major study has investigated how AIDS has evolved since it first infected humans 100 years ago to find that it’s becoming weaker and less virulent, and its ability to cause AIDS is slowing down. Led by a team from the University of Oxford, the research suggests that together with the use of antiretroviral therapies, the rapid evolution of the HIV virus to fight our immune systems has resulted in a less deadly form.