A Closer Look: 10 March 2019
A list of articles classified by Nancy R. Gough as good, valuable contributions or not so valuable contributions to the scientific literature.
Host-Microbe Interactions
Interactions between pathogenic and symbiotic microbes and their hosts
Gut Microbes in Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is occurs in people who have received bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants from donors (allogenic transplants). The donated cells replace the stem cells that make the cells of the immune system and red blood cells in patients with leukemias or lymphomas or various types of bone marrow diseases, blood disorders, … Read more
Cancers with a Possible Bacterial Contributor
In light of the study showing that bacteria with a particular form of the protein DnaK can interfere with a cell’s response to DNA damage and the ability to repair such damage, I have been thinking about what kinds of cancers may have a bacterial cause or contribution. The one that the researchers studied to … Read more
Bacterial Chaperone Protein Causes Cancer
In a study of infection by bacteria of the mycoplasma family, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered that the bacterial protein DnaK triggers a cascade of events that can cause infected cells and nearby uninfected cells to become cancerous. DnaK is a prokaryotic stress-induced protein (Figure 1) that is a … Read more
Cancer-Protective Bacteria Found on Human Skin
Researchers find that a bacterial species present on healthy skin produce a chemical that prevents skin cancer. Humans can be considered metaorganisms. Our bodies includes billions of microorganisms. There are microbes in the gastrointestinal (GI) system (referred to as the gut microbiome), on the skin, in the nose and eyes, and in the parts of … Read more