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Flexibility, rather than perfection, helps in the fight against pathogens
When a foreign substance invades a body, the body produces antibodies that recognise and fight the intruder by means of antibodies that bind to a specific portion of the intruder - the antigen. Memory cells are then formed in the course of the defence reaction. These…
Killer T-cells are effective against viruses only through teamwork
Cells of the immune system must work together closely to protect our body from pathogens. Various types of immune cells are facing bacteria and Viruses "eye-to-eye". And none do their jobs more precisely and elegantly than the cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes, which are killer…
Virus attack viewed at atomic level
When bacteria and Viruses infest a body, they are recognised as foreign matter by the immune system. This leads to a corresponding immune response in an attempt to control these pathogens. In order to understand the mechanisms of attack of the pathogens in detail and to…
A natural antibiotic and potential cancer drug
Natural products have been a source of new drugs for thousands of years, but even if their use has a long-standing tradition, the exact mechanisms of their action is often unknown. The natural product carolacton belongs to the substance class of polyketides and has been…
New epidemic management system combats monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria
Johanna Wanka, German Federal Minister of Research, said: "The dramatic experience of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has made it very clear that the national and international emergency planning for epidemics of this type was insufficient. SORMAS shows, in an…
Detection of bacterial biofilms using covalent lectin binders
Bacteria of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa species are hospital germs and are resistant to many common antibiotics. They can infect all organs and implants and form so-called biofilms, in which they are protected and survive for long periods of time. This results in a…
Große Bühne für Wissenschaft in drei Minuten
Bühne frei für die Wissenschaft heißt es am Donnerstag, 9. April 2015 ab 19 Uhr auf dem Campus des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig. Beim regionalen Vorentscheid Niedersachsen des FameLab-Wettbewerbs präsentieren Nachwuchswissenschaftler…
Antibiotic nanoparticles attack respiratory infection
Treating respiratory disease is often difficult because drugs have to cross biological barriers such as respiratory tissue and mucosa, and must therefore be given in large quantities in order for an effective amount to reach the target. Now researchers from Germany,…
An Atlas of Pseudomonas genes
Certain proteins play a crucial role in the processing of genetic information by bacteria: The so-called sigma factors are responsible for the start of transcription, i.e. the process of making RNA from DNA. Recently, Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection…
Protein renders Yersiniae harmless
Bacteria of the Yersinia genus cause thousands of cases of diarrhoeal disease each year, often with serious consequences. To survive and proliferate in the host, the pathogens first have to adapt, though. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)…