The polyglutamine diseases include at least nine neurodegenerative disorders. Accumulation of mutant protein with a toxic gain-in function in the nucleus appears to be the pathological basis of these diseases. In this issue of Neuron, La Spada et al. (2001) provide insight into the cell specificity of pathology for a polyglutamine disease by relating SCA7-induced retinal degeneration to a disru...

Quorum sensing (QS) is the process by which bacteria produce and detect signal molecules to coordinate their collective behavior. This intercellular communication is a relevant target for anti-biofilm therapies. Here we have optimized a screening-applicable assay to search for new quorum sensing inhibitors from natural compound libraries. In this system, QS is correlated with the production of ...

UNLABELLED Members of the genus Burkholderia are known to be adept at biofilm formation, which presumably assists in the survival of these organisms in the environment and the host. Biofilm formation has been linked to quorum sensing (QS) in several bacterial species. In this study, we characterized Burkholderia thailandensis biofilm development under flow conditions and sought to determine whe...

During infection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa employs bacterial communication (quorum sensing [QS]) to coordinate the expression of tissue-damaging factors. QS-controlled gene expression plays a pivotal role in the virulence of P. aeruginosa, and QS-deficient mutants cause less severe infections in animal infection models. Treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients chronically infected with P. aerug...

Although unicellular, bacteria are highly interactive and employ a range of cell-to-cell communication or 'quorum sensing (QS)' systems for promoting collective behaviour within a population. QS is generally considered to facilitate gene expression only when the population has reached a sufficient cell density and depends on the synthesis of small molecules that diffuse in and out of bacterial ...

[1] We analyze high dynamic range waveform spectra to determine t* values for both P and S waves from earthquakes in southern California. We invert the t* values for threedimensional (3-D) frequency-independent QP and QS regional models of the crust. The models have 15 km horizontal grid spacing and an average vertical grid spacing of 4 km, down to 22 km depth, and extend from the U.S.-Mexico b...

BACKGROUND One major microbiological problem is the widespread antibiotic resistance. There is an urgent need for new antibiotics and ways to treat multi-drug-resistant infections. Inhibition of bacterial quorum sensing (QS) systems could be an effective alternative in a smuch as they regulate a broad spectrum of cell functions, including, virulence factor production, biofilm organisation and m...

BACKGROUND Modulation of cellular signaling pathways can change the replication/differentiation balance in cancer stem cells (CSCs), thus affecting tumor growth and recurrence. Analysis of a simple, experimentally verified, mathematical model suggests that this balance is maintained by quorum sensing (QS). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To explore the mechanism by which putative QS cellular s...

Edible films can be used as carriers for antimicrobial compounds to assure food safety and quality; in addition, pathogenesis of food bacteria is related to a cell to cell communication mechanism called quorum sensing (QS). Oregano essential oil (OEO) has proved to be useful as food antimicrobial; however, its food applications can be compromised by the volatile character of its active constitu...