锌能“饿死”肺炎链球菌
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2013-11-12 06:01 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Australian researchers have found that zinc1 can 'starve' one of the world's most deadly bacteria by preventing its uptake of an essential metal. The finding, by infectious disease researchers at the University of Adelaide and The University of Queensland, opens the way for further work to design antibacterial agents in the fight against Streptococcus pneumoniae(肺炎链球菌).
 
Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for more than one million deaths a year, killing4 children, the elderly and other vulnerable people by causing pneumonia3, meningitis(脑膜炎), and other serious infectious diseases.
 
Published today in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers describe how zinc "jams shut" a protein transporter in the bacteria so that it cannot take up manganese(锰), an essential metal that Streptococcus pneumoniae needs to be able to invade and cause disease in humans.
 
"It's long been known that zinc plays an important role in the body's ability to protect against bacterial2 infection, but this is the first time anyone has been able to show how zinc actually blocks an essential pathway causing the bacteria to starve," says project leader Dr Christopher McDevitt, Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide's Research Centre for Infectious Diseases.
 
"This work spans fields from chemistry and biochemistry to microbiology and immunology to see, at an atomic level of detail, how this transport protein is responsible for keeping the bacteria alive by scavenging one essential metal (manganese), but at the same time also makes the bacteria vulnerable to being killed by another metal (zinc)," says Professor Bostjan Kobe, Professor of Structural5 Biology at The University of Queensland.
 
The study reveals that the bacterial transporter (PsaBCA) uses a 'spring-hammer' mechanism6 to bind7 the metals. The difference in size between the two metals, manganese and zinc, causes the transporter to bind them in different ways. The smaller size of zinc means that when it binds8 to the transporter, the mechanism closes too tightly around the zinc, causing an essential spring in the protein to unwind too far, jamming it shut and blocking the transporter from being able to take up manganese.
 
"Without manganese, these bacteria can easily be cleared by the immune system," says Dr McDevitt. "For the first time, we understand how these types of transporters function. With this new information we can start to design the next generation of antibacterial agents to target and block these essential transporters."


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1 zinc DfxwX     
n.锌;vt.在...上镀锌
参考例句:
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
  • Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。
2 bacterial dy5z8q     
a.细菌的
参考例句:
  • Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间,细菌繁殖加快了。
  • Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。
3 pneumonia s2HzQ     
n.肺炎
参考例句:
  • Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
  • Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。
4 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
5 structural itXw5     
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的
参考例句:
  • The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
  • The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。
6 mechanism zCWxr     
n.机械装置;机构,结构
参考例句:
  • The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
  • The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
7 bind Vt8zi     
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬
参考例句:
  • I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
  • He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。
8 binds c1d4f6440575ef07da0adc7e8adbb66c     
v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 );装订;捆绑;(用长布条)缠绕
参考例句:
  • Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
TAG标签: disease bacteria zinc
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