New Bactericide Family Uncovered
Written by WTJ on January 16, 2009 – 10:28 am -
A new finding has been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry today showing that a new antibacterial protein has been uncovered. This new antibacterial agent, hydramacin-1, is found in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra by Joachim Grötzinger, Thomas Bosch and colleagues at the University of Kiel. There is no other known antibacterial protein that is similar to this newly identified bactericide except the antimicrobials found in the leech. Hydramacin-1 can kill a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This protein is also able to kill those drug-resistant bacteria like Klebsiella oxytoca. The protein kills bacteria by attaching to their surface and promotes clumping of nearby bacteria then disrupts their membrane. Hydramacin-1 also has a 3-D shape which is most closely resembled a superfamily of a proteins found in scorpion venom. The research group propose the newly identified protein with two leech proteins are members of the macins family.
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Tags: hydra, hydramacin-1, Joachim Grötzinger, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Klebsiella oxytoca, macins, neutrogena hydrating mask, protein, superfamily, University of Kiel | 1 Comment »
January 16th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Maybe this could be the new and effective antibiotic.