Infections of the urinary tract can be very dangerous. More than half of all Australian women will suffer from a UTI in their lifetime, and nearly one in three will need antibiotics before the age of 24.
Around 80 percent of urinary tract infections are caused by E coli. Antimicrobial resistance is the leading cause of E coli-related deaths.
State-of-the-art microscopes are being used by researchers at the University of Technology Sydney to figure out how thesebacteria spread and grow.
Dr. Bill Sderstrm and Associate Professor Iain Duggin looked at the shape shifting behavior of UPEC. The bacterium form spaghetti-like strands hundreds of times their normal lengths before reverting to their original form.
The study used a human bladder cell infection model and looked at their reversal back to rod shape.
While we don't fully understand why they do this extreme lifestyle make-over, we know they must return to their original size before they can reinfect new bladder cells.
During reversal, we used advanced microscopy to follow two key cell division proteins. Dr. Sderstrm said that the normal rules for regulation of cell division inbacteria does not apply in the filaments
By giving the first clues into how the reversal of filamentation is regulated, we may be laying the foundation for finding new ways to fight infections.
The long filaments formed by thebacteria appeared to break open the human cells through a previously unknown mechanism.
Associate Professor Duggin said that the damage and pain experienced during a UTI may be caused by the eruption of thesebacteria from the cells of the bladder.
The goal is to identify why and how thebacteria do this remarkable feat in the hope of enabling alternative treatments or preventions.
More information: Bill Söderström et al, Assembly dynamics of FtsZ and DamX during infection-related filamentation and division in uropathogenic E. coli, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31378-1 Journal information: Nature Communications
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