James Byrne

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  • November 16, 2011
  • 04:03 PM
  • 177 views

Antibiotics with a side of steak

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

We’re in a sad and weird place in biomedical science. In the 1940’s we got penicillin, in the following 30 years another 13 different classes of antibiotic were introduced. Since 1970 the number of new classes has dropped to a worrying 2. Since then we have found new ways to arrange the deckchairs on our once proud antibiotic ship but we are well and truly sinking.

This is an awful situation as we are fast approaching a world full of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and no drugs to ........ Read more »

Marshall, B., & Levy, S. (2011) Food Animals and Antimicrobials: Impacts on Human Health. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 24(4), 718-733. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.00002-11  

  • November 10, 2011
  • 06:47 PM
  • 181 views

Bacterial Toxins

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

Key to the development of disease in many bacterial infections is expression of a bacterial toxin. Toxins come in many shapes and forms but all have a pretty similar goal, to directly induce damage to the cells of the host.... Read more »

Fraser, M. (2004) Structure of Shiga Toxin Type 2 (Stx2) from Escherichia coli O157:H7. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 279(26), 27511-27517. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M401939200  

Tilley, S., Orlova, E., Gilbert, R., Andrew, P., & Saibil, H. (2005) Structural Basis of Pore Formation by the Bacterial Toxin Pneumolysin. Cell, 121(2), 247-256. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2005.02.033  

Louie GV, Yang W, Bowman ME, & Choe S. (1997) Crystal structure of the complex of diphtheria toxin with an extracellular fragment of its receptor. Molecular cell, 1(1), 67-78. PMID: 9659904  

Middlebrook JL, & Dorland RB. (1984) Bacterial toxins: cellular mechanisms of action. Microbiological reviews, 48(3), 199-221. PMID: 6436655  

  • October 21, 2011
  • 05:22 PM
  • 186 views

Cerebral Palsy Challenger

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

I have been taking part in a fundraising drive raising money for people with cerebral palsy called ‘The Cerebral Palsy Challenge’. I have been wearing a pedometer for the last few weeks with the aim of walking the equivalent number of steps it would take to climb Mt. Everest. The other week I reached the summit and so I have just continued walking. As of now I’m up to 662,841 steps and a rough distance covered of 397.7 km. I say rough as the way I have set up the pedometer is a........ Read more »

Ashwal S, Russman BS, Blasco PA, Miller G, Sandler A, Shevell M, Stevenson R, Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology, & Practice Committee of the Child Neurology Society. (2004) Practice parameter: diagnostic assessment of the child with cerebral palsy: report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Practice Committee of the Child Neurology Society. Neurology, 62(6), 851-63. PMID: 15037681  

Strauss D, Brooks J, Rosenbloom L, & Shavelle R. (2008) Life expectancy in cerebral palsy: an update. Developmental medicine and child neurology, 50(7), 487-93. PMID: 18611196  

Missiuna C, & Pollock N. (1991) Play deprivation in children with physical disabilities: the role of the occupational therapist in preventing secondary disability. The American journal of occupational therapy. : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association, 45(10), 882-8. PMID: 1835302  

  • September 28, 2011
  • 06:13 PM
  • 238 views

Hendra Virus

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

In recent months Australia has seen the lengths science will go to to control the potential outbreak of significant infectious diseases. At this stage Hendra virus is not particularly infectious in humans but is very deadly and some important recent developments have led to increased concern in the scientific community.... Read more »

Williamson MM, & Torres-Velez FJ. (2010) Henipavirus: a review of laboratory animal pathology. Veterinary pathology, 47(5), 871-80. PMID: 20682803  

Aguilar HC, & Lee B. (2011) Emerging paramyxoviruses: molecular mechanisms and antiviral strategies. Expert reviews in molecular medicine. PMID: 21345285  

Vigant F, & Lee B. (2011) Hendra and nipah infection: pathology, models and potential therapies. Infectious disorders drug targets, 11(3), 315-36. PMID: 21488828  

  • September 19, 2011
  • 09:45 PM
  • 343 views

Scurvy Dogs - The ITLAPD Edition

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

Scurvy is caused by a deficiency in vitamin C which humans and other primates receive by consuming food, particularly citrus fruits. But it turns out scurvy wouldn’t be a problem if not for one single mutated gene which, if it was still in tip top condition, would allow us to synthesise our own vitamin C, like every other friggin thing on this planet.... Read more »

McKenna KE, & Dawson JF. (1993) Scurvy occurring in a teenager. Clinical and experimental dermatology, 18(1), 75-7. PMID: 8440062  

Velandia B, Centor RM, McConnell V, & Shah M. (2008) Scurvy is still present in developed countries. Journal of general internal medicine, 23(8), 1281-4. PMID: 18459013  

  • September 14, 2011
  • 06:05 PM
  • 440 views

Peptidoglycan - The bacterial wonder wall

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

Quick, can you describe your grandparents? Staphylococcus aureus, or the Golden Staph, can and it is a single cell. If you couldn’t you should visit them more often. In any case, a very cool paper came out recently but before we can get there we need to begin by going backwards to explain a very important bacterial structure called peptidoglycan.... Read more »

Turner, R., Ratcliffe, E., Wheeler, R., Golestanian, R., Hobbs, J., & Foster, S. (2010) Peptidoglycan architecture can specify division planes in Staphylococcus aureus. Nature Communications, 1(3), 1-9. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1025  

van Heijenoort J. (2001) Formation of the glycan chains in the synthesis of bacterial peptidoglycan. Glycobiology, 11(3). PMID: 11320055  

  • September 9, 2011
  • 01:51 AM
  • 262 views

Acinetobacter baumannii the most opportunisitic-ist pathogen you know

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

A. baumannii does not mess around. As opportunistic pathogens go it’s pretty out there. An aerobic, gram negative, almost entirely antibiotic resistant (largely through passive mechanisms) bacterium that’s developing such a terrible reputation that it has picked up the nickname ‘Iraqibacter’, but that’s mostly because of the high proportion of A. baumannii infections in returned American troops.... Read more »

Mussi, M., Gaddy, J., Cabruja, M., Arivett, B., Viale, A., Rasia, R., & Actis, L. (2010) The Opportunistic Human Pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii Senses and Responds to Light. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(24), 6336-6345. DOI: 10.1128/JB.00917-10  

McBride, M. (2010) Shining a Light on an Opportunistic Pathogen. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(24), 6325-6326. DOI: 10.1128/JB.01141-10  

Reddy, T., Chopra, T., Marchaim, D., Pogue, J., Alangaden, G., Salimnia, H., Boikov, D., Navon-Venezia, S., Akins, R., Selman, P.... (2010) Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates from a Metropolitan Detroit Health System. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 54(5), 2235-2238. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01665-09  

Dijkshoorn, L., Nemec, A., & Seifert, H. (2007) An increasing threat in hospitals: multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5(12), 939-951. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1789  

  • September 7, 2011
  • 10:00 AM
  • 259 views

Acinetobacter baumannii the most opportunisitic-ist pathogen you know

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

A. baumannii does not mess around. As opportunistic pathogens go it’s pretty out there. An aerobic, gram negative, almost entirely antibiotic resistant (largely through passive mechanisms) bacterium that’s developing such a terrible reputation that it has picked up the nickname ‘Iraqibacter’, but that’s mostly because of the high proportion of A. baumannii infections in returned [...]









... Read more »

Mussi, M., Gaddy, J., Cabruja, M., Arivett, B., Viale, A., Rasia, R., & Actis, L. (2010) The Opportunistic Human Pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii Senses and Responds to Light. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(24), 6336-6345. DOI: 10.1128/JB.00917-10  

McBride, M. (2010) Shining a Light on an Opportunistic Pathogen. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(24), 6325-6326. DOI: 10.1128/JB.01141-10  

Reddy, T., Chopra, T., Marchaim, D., Pogue, J., Alangaden, G., Salimnia, H., Boikov, D., Navon-Venezia, S., Akins, R., Selman, P.... (2010) Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates from a Metropolitan Detroit Health System. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 54(5), 2235-2238. DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01665-09  

Dijkshoorn, L., Nemec, A., & Seifert, H. (2007) An increasing threat in hospitals: multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5(12), 939-951. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1789  

  • August 18, 2011
  • 09:11 AM
  • 360 views

Emerging infectious diseases and cities

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

Commonly, we think the regions most likely be affected by the emergence of infectious diseases would be the developing nations but in fact very few studies have looked into the spatial arrangement of emerging infectious disease reporting. This has significant implications for funding of surveillance and research as typically developing nations lack the resources to adequately handle their current health burdens let alone monitoring for and dealing with new issues as they arise. So an emphasis mu........ Read more »

Jones, K., Patel, N., Levy, M., Storeygard, A., Balk, D., Gittleman, J., & Daszak, P. (2008) Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature, 451(7181), 990-993. DOI: 10.1038/nature06536  

Morens DM, Folkers GK, & Fauci AS. (2004) The challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Nature, 430(6996), 242-9. PMID: 15241422  

  • August 2, 2011
  • 08:57 PM
  • 350 views

Antibiotics are good for more than just killing

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

As a community here @sciamblogs we decided to each cover something chemistry related on each of our individual blogs to coincide with the World Chemistry Congress taking place in Puerto Rico. This scared the bejeezus out of me as I’m a biologist, not a chemist, and I’ve never been brilliant at the textbook chemistry stuff from my undergraduate classes. Also, a wise biology teacher once told me that all chemistry is boring until it starts moving, then its biology.... Read more »

Falconer, S., Czarny, T., & Brown, E. (2011) Antibiotics as probes of biological complexity. Nature Chemical Biology, 415-423. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.590  

  • August 2, 2011
  • 10:00 AM
  • 275 views

Antibiotics are good for more than killing

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

As a community here @sciamblogs we decided to each cover something chemistry related on each of our individual blogs to coincide with the World Chemistry Congress taking place in Puerto Rico. This scared the bejeezus out of me as I’m a biologist, not a chemist, and I’ve never been brilliant at the textbook chemistry stuff [...]









... Read more »

Falconer, S., Czarny, T., & Brown, E. (2011) Antibiotics as probes of biological complexity. Nature Chemical Biology, 415-423. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.590  

  • July 28, 2011
  • 07:56 PM
  • 441 views

Can’t fall asleep? You don’t want to read this then.

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

Unlike narcolepsy, which has been shown to have genetic and environmental triggers insomnia seems to have no genetic component. The closest thing to a genetic insomnia is the ominously named fatal familial insomnia, which my old friend Thomas wrote about here.

A diagnosis of insomnia relies on the way the following questions are answered, “Do you experience difficulty sleeping?” or “Do you have difficulty falling or staying asleep?” You answer yes to either of those an........ Read more »

Reiner PB, & Kamondi A. (1994) Mechanisms of antihistamine-induced sedation in the human brain: H1 receptor activation reduces a background leakage potassium current. Neuroscience, 59(3), 579-88. PMID: 8008209  

Roth T, & Roehrs T. (2003) Insomnia: epidemiology, characteristics, and consequences. Clinical cornerstone, 5(3), 5-15. PMID: 14626537  

Jacobs GD, Pace-Schott EF, Stickgold R, & Otto MW. (2004) Cognitive behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial and direct comparison. Archives of internal medicine, 164(17), 1888-96. PMID: 15451764  

  • July 27, 2011
  • 10:00 AM
  • 280 views

Can’t fall asleep? You don’t want to read this then.

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

The last post I put up was on narcolepsy and of course the opposite of a condition where you fall asleep all the time is a disease where you cant seem to fall asleep at all, insomnia. Unlike narcolepsy, which has been shown to have genetic and environmental triggers insomnia seems to have no genetic [...]









... Read more »

Reiner PB, & Kamondi A. (1994) Mechanisms of antihistamine-induced sedation in the human brain: H1 receptor activation reduces a background leakage potassium current. Neuroscience, 59(3), 579-88. PMID: 8008209  

Roth T, & Roehrs T. (2003) Insomnia: epidemiology, characteristics, and consequences. Clinical cornerstone, 5(3), 5-15. PMID: 14626537  

Jacobs GD, Pace-Schott EF, Stickgold R, & Otto MW. (2004) Cognitive behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial and direct comparison. Archives of internal medicine, 164(17), 1888-96. PMID: 15451764  

  • July 16, 2011
  • 05:46 PM
  • 347 views

Narcolepsy…zzzZZZzzz…

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

Everyone knows what narcolepsy looks like from movies like the ridiculous display in Deuce Bigalow (one of the ‘adorable misfit bunch of suitors’) to other more subdued examples like Mike in My Own Private Idaho. Oh, and when I say that, I mean people know the stereotype of the instantaneous drop during dinner into a bowl of soup. What I really mean is that the stereotype isn’t the norm at all.... Read more »

Klein J, & Sato A. (2000) The HLA system. Second of two parts. The New England journal of medicine, 343(11), 782-6. PMID: 10984567  

Mignot E. (2001) A commentary on the neurobiology of the hypocretin/orexin system. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 25(5 Suppl). PMID: 11682267  

Maret S, & Tafti M. (2005) Genetics of narcolepsy and other major sleep disorders. Swiss medical weekly, 135(45-46), 662-5. PMID: 16453205  

Zorick FJ, Salis PJ, Roth T, & Kramer M. (1979) Narcolepsy and automatic behavior: a case report. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 40(4), 194-7. PMID: 422531  

  • July 16, 2011
  • 10:00 AM
  • 271 views

Narcolepsy…zzzZZZzzz…

by James Byrne in Disease Prone @SciAmBlogs

Everyone knows what narcolepsy looks like from movies like the ridiculous display in Deuce Bigalow (one of the ‘adorable misfit bunch of suitors’) to other more subdued examples like Mike in My Own Private Idaho. Oh, and when I say that, I mean people know the stereotype of the instantaneous drop during dinner into a [...]









... Read more »

Klein J, & Sato A. (2000) The HLA system. Second of two parts. The New England journal of medicine, 343(11), 782-6. PMID: 10984567  

Mignot E. (2001) A commentary on the neurobiology of the hypocretin/orexin system. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 25(5 Suppl). PMID: 11682267  

Maret S, & Tafti M. (2005) Genetics of narcolepsy and other major sleep disorders. Swiss medical weekly, 135(45-46), 662-5. PMID: 16453205  

Zorick FJ, Salis PJ, Roth T, & Kramer M. (1979) Narcolepsy and automatic behavior: a case report. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 40(4), 194-7. PMID: 422531  

  • June 24, 2011
  • 07:25 PM
  • 569 views

No door? No problem. T. cruzi uses the window to cause Chagas Disease

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

For invasive pathogens the only way to survive, and consequently make you sick, is to get inside your cells. This is a rough exercise as you have an immune system working everywhere in the body to prevent this and the cell to be invaded is none too happy with the idea either so invasive pathogens must use tricks.... Read more »

Jermy A. (2011) Parasitology: Adding insult to injury. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 9(7), 484. PMID: 21625249  

Andrade LO, & Andrews NW. (2005) The Trypanosoma cruzi-host-cell interplay: location, invasion, retention. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 3(10), 819-23. PMID: 16175174  

Fernandes MC, Cortez M, Flannery AR, Tam C, Mortara RA, & Andrews NW. (2011) Trypanosoma cruzi subverts the sphingomyelinase-mediated plasma membrane repair pathway for cell invasion. The Journal of experimental medicine, 208(5), 909-21. PMID: 21536739  

  • June 18, 2011
  • 12:00 AM
  • 579 views

Anti-cancer Fungi

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

Mycology, the study of fungi, is an often-overlooked member of the microbiology family. Having said that there are plenty of dedicated mycologists out there doing all sorts of cool stuff and plenty more fungal species doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things.... Read more »

King-Fai Cheng, & Ping-Chung Leung. (2008) General review of polysaccharopeptides (PSP) from C. versicolor: Pharmacological and clinical studies. Cancer Therapy. info:/

Luk SU, Lee TK, Liu J, Lee DT, Chiu YT, Ma S, Ng IO, Wong YC, Chan FL, & Ling MT. (2011) Correction: Chemopreventive Effect of PSP Through Targeting of Prostate Cancer Stem Cell-Like Population. PloS one, 6(6). PMID: 21674070  

  • June 11, 2011
  • 01:05 AM
  • 348 views

To Tattoo or Not To Tattoo

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

One of the things I didn’t realise about getting a tattoo the first time was just how much mess it makes and how much blood there is. It doesn’t make any sense really given that I was completely aware a bunch of needle were going to repeatedly puncture my skin but, honestly, I’d never really thought about the blood. I can assure you if I had known I probably would have wussed out.

... Read more »

Wagle WA, & Smith M. (2000) Tattoo-induced skin burn during MR imaging. AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 174(6), 1795. PMID: 10845532  

Tope, W., & Shellock, F. (2002) Magnetic resonance imaging and permanent cosmetics (tattoos): Survey of complications and adverse events. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 15(2), 180-184. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.10049  

Hartwig, V., Giovannetti, G., Vanello, N., Lombardi, M., Landini, L., & Simi, S. (2009) Biological Effects and Safety in Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(6), 1778-1798. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph6061778  

  • June 3, 2011
  • 07:22 PM
  • 2,234 views

Treating the Bends

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

ResearchBlogging.org
Last week I wrote about the Bends, a medical problem based in an understanding of physics that results in bubbles of (primarily) nitrogen in your blood if you move from one atmospheric pressure to another to quickly, typically surfacing from depth while diving too fast.
The therapy is actually very simple – take the person back to the depth they were diving at to force the bubbles to resolve into the blood. This immediately solves of the symptoms of the condition but........ Read more »

Vann RD, Butler FK, Mitchell SJ, & Moon RE. (2011) Decompression illness. Lancet, 377(9760), 153-64. PMID: 21215883  

Acott, CJ. (1999) Oxygen toxicity: A brief history of oxygen in diving. South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal. info:/

Clark JM. (1974) The toxicity of oxygen. The American review of respiratory disease, 110(6 Pt 2), 40-50. PMID: 4613232  

  • May 28, 2011
  • 09:00 AM
  • 848 views

Physics Medicine = The Bends

by James Byrne in Disease Prone

Arguably many diseases can be based in physics including heart disease, atherosclerosis and pretty much anything else to do with the pipes in your body but a disease known as ‘the bends’ or ‘decompression sickness’ invokes a bunch of physics laws and principles and then also requires a physics based treatment to deal with it.

... Read more »

Vann RD, Butler FK, Mitchell SJ, & Moon RE. (2011) Decompression illness. Lancet, 377(9760), 153-64. PMID: 21215883  

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