Plague proteome reveals proteins linked to infection.By recreating growth conditions in flea carriers and mammal hosts, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of nine United States Department of Energy (DOE) multiprogram national laboratories. The laboratory PNNL is located in Richland, Washington, and operates a marine research facility in Sequim, Washington. (PNNL PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ) have uncovered 176 proteins and likely proteins in the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis Yersinia pes·tis n. A bacterium that causes plague and is transmitted from rats to humans by the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis. Also called Pasteurella pestis. whose numbers rise and fall with the virulence of the disease. The team, led by Department of Energy laboratory staff scientists Mary Lipton and Kim Hixson, identified the proteins as "unique bio-markers related specifically to growth condition," according to the article "Biomarker Candidate Identification in Yersinia pestis Using Organism-Wide Semiquantitative Proteomics," which appeared recently in the Journal of Proteome pro·te·ome n. The complete set of proteins that are produced by the genes of an organism. proteome the entire complement of proteins produced by a cell. Research (Volume 5, Number 6, 2006). Biomarkers associated with disease progression show promise as detection tools for public health and biodefense and can guide drug and vaccine designers in their quest to disrupt the ability of the microbe microbe /mi·crobe/ (mi´krob) a microorganism, especially a pathogenic one such as a bacterium, protozoan, or fungus.micro´bialmicro´bic mi·crobe n. to infect. Y. pestis is the bacterium that caused the infamous Black Death plagues. Fleas are vectors for the disease and can spread it to rodent and human hosts. The study mimicked environmental conditions under which Y. pestis occurs in flea and in mammalian systems. A proteome is a survey of proteins in a cell. Lipton, Hixson, and colleagues at the PNNL-based Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: see Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (body) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - (LLNL) A research organaisatin operated by the University of California under a contract with the US Department of Energy. used accurate-mass-and-time-tag mass spectrometry and clustering analysis to compare abundance changes in 992 proteins under four different growth conditions: at 26[degrees]C and at 37[degrees]C, and with and without calcium. They found 89 candidate proteins with abundance changes similar to those of 29 known virulence-linked proteins and an additional 87 disease-condition-associated "hypothetical" proteins. The Institute for Genomic Research defines a hypothetical protein as one identified by a gene-finding algorithm that matches no other known protein sequence or for which there is no other evidence that it is an actual product of a gene. The study authors said that the same approach is being applied to a search for biomarkers across a wide range of biological systems, from other infectious agents such as Salmonella to soil microbes of interest for toxic-waste cleanup. The project was funded by the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States . |
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