Hot Topics & News Tips: Wednesday, September 27

Newswise — Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholars—some of the world's leading biomedical researchers from outside the United States—will meet at HHMI's new Janelia Farm Research Campus in northern Virginia September 26-29. 2006.

All research is embargoed until the date and time of presentation.

Beating antibiotic-resistant bacteria — Natalie Strynadka, CanadaPresentation: 9:15 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27

Natalie Strynadka, an HHMI international research scholar from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, has determined the structure of a protein that Gram-negative bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, need to survive. She has found that a mutant form of that protein prevents normal antibiotics from binding to and killing the bacterial cell. Strynadka is using her background in understanding protein structure, which she has gained as a crystallographer, to design new antibiotics that bind to the mutant form of the Staph protein. The new drugs appear to be highly effective in killing multiple drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Strynadka was recently elected to the prestigious Royal Society of Canada.

Why TB Is Hard to Kill — Valerie Mizrahi, South AfricaPresentation: 9:15 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27

A new drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis (TB) has hit South Africa, killing more than 50 people already. HHMI international research scholar Valerie Mizrahi, South Africa's woman scientist of the year, is on the front lines of this emerging epidemic. Since her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying drug-resistant TB, Mizrahi has a unique vantage point from which to provide expert commentary on this health threat. She is a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, and co-director of a new South African Department of Science and Technology Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research. Mizrahi is widely recognized for her mentoring of South African science students.

Malaria Reveals its Secrets — Robert Ménard, FrancePresentation: 10:35 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27

Once a mosquito bite has jabbed it through the skin of its host, the malaria parasite can interact with host cells in two ways: It can move through the cell, a process known as cell transversal, or it can infect the cell by invading and developing in a vacuole, a tiny compartment inside the cell. Robert Ménard, an HHMI international scholar and a chief of laboratory at the Pasteur Institute of Paris, has determined that cell traversal actually may mask cell infection of the host's liver cells. Knowing this offers a new target for disrupting the life cycle of the malaria parasite.

Marijuana's cousins could be new anti-anxiety drugs — Tamás Freund, HungaryPresentation: 1:25 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27

Millions of people suffer from anxiety disorders. Tamás Freund is a Hungarian neuroscientist and HHMI international research scholar who studies the brain circuitry that links learning and emotions. When these networks malfunction, mood disorders—particularly anxiety—can result. Freund has discovered how endocannabinoids, or marijuana-like compounds that occur naturally in the brain, regulate responses of nerve cells in these brain circuits. Understanding this mechanism provides potential targets for new drugs to treat anxiety disorders. Freund is director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary.

Tiny Conspiracies: Cell-to-Cell Communication in Bacteria — Bonnie Bassler, USAKeynote address: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27While a chattering crowd of various species of bacteria is essentially a microbial tower of Babel, certain snippets of their chemical conversation are almost universally understood by other bacteria. Bonnie Bassler, who studies how bacteria communicate with each other, has found that bacteria of different species can talk to each other using a common language—and that some species of bacteria can manipulate the conversation to confuse other bacteria. This interspecies crosstalk and misdirection could have important consequences for human health, says Bonnie L. Bassler, an HHMI investigator at Princeton University. She will describe her research on quorum sensing, which is the production, release, and detection of signaling molecules that enable bacteria to regulate gene expression. Bassler also will talk about research focusing on developing therapies that interfere with quorum sensing, to control bacterial virulence.

For more information on the HHMI International Research Scholars Meeting,please see http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/523627/ .