Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Updated : August 7, 2018 4:01 PM IST
A recent research from the University of Leicester can pave way for development of new drugs and antibiotics to fight an array of diseases including tuberculosis. The researchers have explored a novel angle on the way bacteria sense nutrients in their environment. The research team has analysed functions of protein Kinase G permitting bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis to distinguish amino acids in their surroundings. This allows the bacteria to manage their metabolism in accordance to the available nutrients.
Large and important group of bacteria including those that cause tuberculosis in humans contain this specific protein, found the study. Not just that, the presence of the same protein was observed in food and antibiotic production. The research not only recognised the kinds of nutrients that can be sensed like aspartate and glutamate but also identified the protein that senses the nutrients. This will enable the scientists to understand the way bacteria function and how drugs could target specific proteins.
According to the recent report on the research on behalf of University of Leicester, Helen O'Hare, the lead researcher from Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, said: "Serine threonine protein kinases are found in all organisms, from humans to bacteria, but they are less well understood in bacteria. The findings represent one of the first instances in bacteria where it has been possible to identify the stimuli that trigger signaling. A bacterial pathogen can 'taste' the same amino acids that humans can. The sensor has a similar structure to human glutamate receptors but the way the information is transmitted into the bacterial cell is different and involves a different set of proteins, unlike signalling systems that have been studied previously."
"The research brings understanding about how a pathogen can sense the nutrients in its niches in the human body, but also broad understanding of how non-pathogenic bacteria sense their surroundings," she added.
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