Pathogen genes on-off-switch by using Aspirin reveals new insights for infection research

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami

Tuesday, 09 October 2007

Using one of the most common drugs the scientists can control gene expression during the infection

Inflammatory diseases and infections are triggered by a variety of different biological processes, involving the bacteria or viruses as well as the host physiology. Pathogens often infect their host cells by on-off switch of their gene translation (which causes the expression of special proteins, virulent factors). The large number of different proteins and genes involved in this complicated process between host and pathogen is a obstacle to scientists to investigate the different circuits during an infection. Now with a newly developed method it is easy to target special genes within the bacteria or viruses. With a special promoter which is simply activated by Aspirin (=acetyl-salicyate) the scientists in the laboratory of Prof. Carlos Guzman (at the Helmholtz-Center of infection research, Braunschweig, Germany) managed to find a control of the activation of single proteins of a pathogen in different periods of an infection.

The researchers introduced this gene promoter into cells of the bacteria Salmonella spp.
The method was tested in mice cancer cells. The salmonella spp. infected the tumor and the introduced promoter was switch on by feeding the mice with aspirin. A gene with a anti-cancer drug was activated and the tumor shrunk.

Now Pablo Daniel Becker (the scientist who developed this method) and Carlos Alberto Guzman are heading towards the investigation of the interaction between host and pathogen. This may allow to develop even more targeted drugs against infection with less adverse effects.

Source:
Jose Luis Royo, Pablo Daniel Becker, Eva Maria Camacho, Angel Cebolla, Claudia Link, Eduardo Santero, Carlos Alberto Guzman: In vivo gene regulation in Salmonella spp. by a salicylate-dependent control circuit. Nature Methods, DOI: 10.1038/nmeth1107.

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