Researchers at the Chemical Genomics Center of the Max Planck Society in Munich have promising results from their study of legionella infections. Legionellosis, the process of infection by legionella bacteria, is a particularly evasive infection. The body’s typical immune response involves ‘eating up’ foreign intruders such as bacteria and viruses in a process known as autophagy, ultimately preventing the onset of diseases and infections. A molecule known as LC3-PE is responsible for this process. Legionella bacteria has been found to contain a molecule, called RavZ, that disrupts the actions of LC3-PE and ultimately allows legionella bacteria to propagate within the body, leading to the start of Legionnaires’ Disease. The research team at the Max Planck Society have studied the process by which RavZ recognizes and destroys LC3-PE, studying the structure and RavZ and the binding process. The team have found that the inclusion of a peptide that disrupts RavZ’s recognition process. The head of the research team, Yaowen Wu, concluded the study by saying: “We hope that understanding these mechanisms will be beneficial for the development of new drugs against infection by Legionella”. To read more about the study, click here. Jules Zacher is an attorney in Philadelphia who has tried Legionnaires’ disease cases across the U.S. Please visit LegionnaireLawyer.com again for updates.
Promising Research From Germany Highlights New Innovative Way to Treat Legionnaires’ Disease was last modified: April 11th, 2017 by