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Supercoil me!

Even living cells have their own tangled problems to solve. They involve knots that arise accidentally in DNA and that can comprise its functionality. A new study by SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati) brings a new twist to the problem and suggests that the DNA propensity to be supercoiled, just like telephone cords, can come to the rescue. These coils can keep DNA knots locked in place for long enough that they can be untied by specialised enzymes. The computational study, based on molecular dynamics simulations of bacterial DNA, has just been published in Nucleic Acids Research . A tangled problem Supercoiled, twisted, and even knotted! Far from the elegant and polished textbook images, DNA filaments in living cells is all crumpled and entangled and, to be functional, needs to be constantly unravelled, much like our telephone cords that with careless use accumulate annoying curls or supercoils. "Supercoils are, in fact, present in DNA too ...
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Composition of Complex Sugars in Breast Milk May Prevent Future Food Allergies

The unique composition of a mother’s breastmilk may help to reduce food sensitization in her infant, report researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine with colleagues in Canada. The findings, publishing in the June 15 issue of Allergy , further highlight the health role of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are not found in infant formula, and underscore their potential for therapeutic interventions. HMOs are structurally complicated sugar molecules unique to human breast milk. They are the third most abundant solid component in human milk after lactose (a different type of sugar) and fat. They are not actually digestible by infants, but act as a prebiotic, helping to guide development of the infant gut microbiota, which previous research suggests is a key influencer of allergic disease. Past research has shown that breastfed infants have a lower risk for a variety of medical conditions, such as wheezing, infections, asthma and ob...
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New approach to treating infectious diseases as an alternative to antibiotics

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Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is known as a major cause of diarrhea in travelers and people living in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ETEC is responsible for 300,000 ~ 500,000 deaths a year, constituting a serious problem. Effective vaccines for ETEC have not been developed, so patients infected with ETEC are treated with antibiotics and supporting measures. However, the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a social issue, so the development of new treatment methods is sought after. Adherence to the host intestinal epithelium is an essential step for ETEC infection in humans. It was thought that a filamentous structure on the surface of bacteria called 'type IV pilus' was important for bacterial attachment, but its detailed adhesion mechanism was not known. Osaka University-led researchers clarified how pathogenic E.coli attached to the host intestinal epithelium using type IV pili and secre...
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