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nizet.bsky.social
Physician-scientist at UC San Diego, Microbiology, Immunology, Novel Drug and Vaccine Discovery, #IDSky, Mentoring and Supporting STEM Career Development. Enjoy exploring the outdoors, world cultures, sports, comedy, community. http://nizetlab.ucsd.edu
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B͓̊å͓c͓̊t͓̊e͓̊r͓̊i͓̊å͓l͓̊ s͓̊ů͓g͓̊å͓r͓̊ f͓̊ů͓e͓̊l͓̊s͓̊ c͓̊å͓n͓̊c͓̊e͓̊r͓̊ r͓̊i͓̊s͓̊k͓̊ Study in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 finds ADP-HEPTOSE, a bacterial sugar produced by Gram- gut flora, leaks into the bloodstream with age, activating NF-κB, giving pre-leukaemic blood cells a growth edge, and triggering dangerous clonal haematopoiesis Starczynowski Lab U Cincinnati

The bacteria that causes Q FEVER with some elegant NICHE ENGINEERING! 𝘊𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘪 survives in a hostile PHAGOLYSOME by kicking out key host protease CATHEPSIN B With Dot/Icm secretion and retrograde trafficking, it remodels its vacuole into a friendlier home www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New hope for LYME DISEASE, right under our eyes? Unbiased screen surprisingly shows PIPERACILLIN can wipe out 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪 in mice at tiny doses — 100 times lower than doxycycline — while leaving gut bacteria intact Jutras Lab Northwestern Sci Transl Med www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲-𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 Story in PNAS: Gut microbiota from human twins discordant for MS transplanted into germ free mice—two species made mice more prone to MS-like disease: 𝙀𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙞 and 𝙇𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙪𝙢 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

cellular transport

Early-onset colorectal cancer has doubled in 20 years—why? New 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 study from Díaz-Gay et al Ludmil Alexandrov lab here @UCSanDiego discovers mutational clues: Exposure to bacteria-derived colibactin leaves a genetic imprint, especially in tumors from young people and high-incidence countries

Rewarding visit to @uvic.ca as Lansdowne Visiting Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology meeting the amazing students and faculty, a seminar plus a public lecture North American science is in good hands with our 🇨🇦 neighbors Hosted by staph scientist @stephentuffs.bsky.social

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 Short course ciprofloxacin triggered de novo gyrA mutations in human gut bacteria—mutations stuck around for months without fitness cost Even brief antibiotic pressure leaves a lasting genetic mark Relman Lab 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The slowest animal is neither a sloth nor a starfish Rather, the slowest animal is a snail riding a turtle—missing appointments leaving friends hanging everywhere they go 🐌 🐢

Pleased to share our new paper out in 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 led by Monika Kumaraswamy, MD, now Chief of Infectious Diseases UTexas-Tyler Is minimimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing the gold standard for antibiotic-resistant superbugs? 🦠 🧫 🧵 1/6 www.jci.org/articles/vie...

to really take your research to the next level, it is important to build interdisciplinary teams #collaboration #scientificinterfaces

CHECK IT OUT 🦠👀 Very cool article by science journalist Carrie Arnold reviewing recent research from leading laboratories on how the unique shape of a microbial #biofilm emerges from interactions of its component microbes with each other and their environment www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-biofil...

SPIT TAKE New study out in the journal 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘴 uses an Interferometric Laser Imaging for Droplet Sizing (ILIDS) technique to characterize the size and speed of respiratory droplets and identify superspreader phenotypes We all know somebody …. www.sciencealert.com/differences-...

❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓ 𝑳𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒔 causes leptospirosis, the world’s most common zoonotic infection the spirochete gets its latin name “interrogans” for being shaped like a question mark spread through contact with soil or water contaminated with urine of infected rodents ❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓?❓

New immune cell population just dropped! Unique group of ILC3s lives 𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀 lung blood vessels, not the tissue. Upon 𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 infection, they quickly mobilize CCL4 to summon neutrophils Without them, bacterial clearance is delayed and inflammation lingers www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Help - have room for one more song on my 1980s bands clinical microbiology lab mixtape 🎧 🎶 1. Milli Bacilli 2. Sammy Agar 3. CentriFugees 4. Run HPLC 5. Dire Substrates 6. Pipette Shop Boys 7. Gram- Rod Stewart 8. Salt-N-StrepA 9. Yeastie Boys

sat on this branch beside me for two minutes and didn’t make a sound — papa owes me a diamond ring

Krista Freeman et al 𝘊𝘌𝘓𝘓 stunning atomic-level imaging (Cryo-EM, cryo-ET) reveals how 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞 Bxb1 reshapes its tail tip to breach the mycobacterial cell wall and deliver DNA to the cytoplasm can inform precise targeted phage therapies for TB and NTM infections www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Fascinating innate immune evasion strategy in SCIENCE #glycotime 𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘦 makes GLYCOSIRIN, a novel iminosugar that blocks plant glycosidases from degrading bacterial flagellin—hiding pathogens from plant immune sensors. New cryo-EM insights reveal exactly how this stealthy trick works

Congrats to Qpex BioPharma and Shionogi Group, a superlative anti-infective discovery partnership, on a festive grand opening of their new research facilities Qpex President/CEO Michael Dudley◉UCSD Skaggs Pharmacy’s Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir◉Rady Children’s John Bradley◉San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria

At the peak of the 2017 insanity, over 50 million fidget spinners were sold in just a few months—a good chunk of them to our then middle school-aged son Now that these kids are hitting college, are we about to see the big societal payoff? Here: ultrasensitive bacterial detection and identification

ᗰIᑕᖇOᗷIOTᗩ 🦠 ᕼEᒪᑭ ᖴIGᕼT ᑕᗩᑎᑕEᖇ 💪 Gut bacteria produce bile acids that block the androgen receptor within CD8+ T cells, enhancing their stemness and anti-tumor activity One bile acid slowed prostate cancer tumor growth and boosted response to anti–PD-1 immunotherapy Jin et al (Cornell Weill) CELL

Spouse: “You’ve been quiet all evening.” Microbiologist: (sighs) Spouse: "Is everything OK?“ Microbiologist: "Yeah, I’ve just got a lot on my plate right now.”

Most antibiotics have a single target 𝘾𝙃𝙇𝙊𝙍𝙊𝙏𝙊𝙉𝙄𝙇𝙎 𝙃𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 !!! Natural products kill MDR Gram+ pathogens like MRSA by – Depolarizing membranes – Inhibiting peptidoglycan synthesis – Jamming protein production All-in-1 combo therapy? Minimal host toxicity Hermann Lab Saarbrücken 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘭

𝚂.𝙿.𝚁.𝙴.𝙰.𝙳. 𝚃.𝙷.𝙴. 𝙼.𝙴.𝚂.𝚂.𝙰.𝙶.𝙴. (𝚁𝙽𝙰, 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙸𝚂)

Antivirulence strategies can spare the microbiome and minimize AMR selective pressure New discovery of small molecule C26 that blocks 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 host cell invasion by targeting HilD—a master regulator its secretion systems (T1SS, T3SS-1, T3SS-2) Don’t destroy — DISARM Wagner Lab Tübingen Sci Adv

so many metaphors

we had a magnitude 5.2 earthquake this morning that struck our microbiology research lab (and greater san diego county) — everyone got to experience a little brownian motion but fortunately no major damage

"𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘏𝘚 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘢"

PRETTY AWESOME Sidor et al. PNAS take a single enzyme from a marine sponge and express it in E. coli, conferring the ability to self-assemble bioglass from silica precursors present in ocean water End result? Living, light-focusing microlenses that persist for months Cheap, durable photonics

New paper in CELL from Stallforth Lab in Leibniz 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔-𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘦 turns predator metabolism into a trigger—detecting amoebae via deacylated syringafactin, then striking back with amoebicidal pyrofactin Very apt analogy: chemical radar launches a molecular self-defense

≋B≋A≋C≋T≋E≋R≋I≋A≋L≋ ≋S≋P≋E≋E≋D≋ The spirochete that causes Lyme disease was clocked at 2,800 µm/min moving back and forth across a platelet—100 times greater than the speed of a neutrophil, the fastest human cell Petition to rename: "𝘽𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙁𝙀𝙍𝙍𝘼𝙍𝙄" Ref: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001633

Awesome How cells fold DNA into tightly packed X-shaped chromosomes in mitosis for accurate passing of genetic information—new SCIENCE paper Dekker Lab UMass www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Fun video set to Strauss’s Waltz “Voices of Spring” And here I am still struggling with a fitted bedsheet

From Ardem Patapoutian, an inspiring scientist and thought leader among his colleagues here in San Diego and around the world—well worth the read

ᗪIᗪ YOᑌ KᑎOᗯ? The biggest viruses are four times larger than the smallest bacteria 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 (top): • Size: 1,000 nm length • Genome: 2.5 million bp, encoding 2,000 genes 𝙈𝙮𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙖 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙪𝙢 (bottom): • Size: 200–300 nm diameter • Genome: 580,000 bp, encoding 480 genes

who will make the first thermocycler for eggs? method published alternates the egg between boiling water (212°F sort of like "denaturing") and tepid water (86°F sort of like "annealing") for 2 min at a time, repeat cycle 8 times (16 steps) for a total of 32 min www.nature.com/articles/s44...