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Document de presse | 2013.04.16
Legionellosis: unique host cell reprogramming induced by the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila
Scientists at the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS, the Institut Curie and Inserm have identified a unique mechanism that enables the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila (the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease or legionellosis) to "reprogram" the gene expression of the eukaryotic cells that it infects. This mechanism, which has never been observed before, facilitates the...
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Document de presse | 2012.10.31
New Finding Helps Explain Antibiotic Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS, and the University of Tsukuba Faculty of Medicine (Japan) have proven for the first time that activating a specific gene in Staphylococcus aureus enables it to incorporate extracellular DNA and develop resistance to methicillin. They have also identified two mechanisms for the activation of the gene in question. These results represent an important...
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Document de presse | 2012.09.26
Malaria Takes a Hit – Two New Molecules Stop P. falciparum in its Tracks
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), in collaboration with Imperial College London, have synthesized two molecules capable of quickly and irreversibly stopping the growth of P. falciparum at every blood stage of its life cycle. These molecules work by inhibiting the histone methyltransferase enzymes necessary for the parasite’s...
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Document de presse | 2012.02.23
New cancer target identified?
A team of researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS has recently identified a protein that can specifically control the activity of an enzyme whose dysfunction has been linked to the development of several types of cancer. This work reveals a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of certain tumors. This study is being published today in the scientific journal Molecular Cell....
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Document de presse | 2011.03.06
Powerful human DNA mutators identified
Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) have shown that a cellular protein, APOBEC3A, known for its antiviral activity, is also capable of mutagenic activity on human cell DNA. This discovery suggests that this protein plays a role in the cellular DNA degradation...
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Document de presse | 2010.09.19
Bacteria disseminate resistance even in the absence of antibiotics
Institut Pasteur researchers in the Antibacterial Agents Unit, directed by Patrice Courvalin, studied resistance to vancomycin in enterococcus bacteria and demonstrated why the mechanism of resistance to this antibiotic has spread so effectively throughout the world. It was previously believed that only large-scale antibiotic use would be responsible for the resistance spread. However, this study...
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Document de presse | 2010.02.14
Customized stem cells to help treat leukemia?
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) have just discovered the origin of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), which give rise to all blood and immune cells in the body. Using real-time imaging technology on zebrafish embryos, the researchers observed that these stem cells were formed from the cells of the aortic wall, the embryo's main...
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Document de presse | 2009.02.04
A yeast for studying neurodegenerative diseases
A team from the Institut Pasteur working with the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) has shown in an article published in the EMBO Journal that a yeast can be used as a cell model for a rare and severe neurodegenerative disease affecting adolescents. This discovery could provide researchers with an unexpected and particularly effective tool for studying the genetics of this...
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Document de presse | 2008.07.07
Whooping cough: bacterial monitoring for better prevention
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Institut Pasteur in Lille have analyzed the consequences of intensive vaccination of young children against whooping cough on the bacterium agent of the disease. Their observations highlight the importance of continuing bacterial evolution in order to adapt vaccine strategies. Press release Paris, july 8, 2008 ...
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Document de presse | 2006.06.25
Hereditary deafness - Discovery of a gene essential for a proper communication between the ear and the brain
Professor Christine Petit's team at the Institut Pasteur Genetics of Sensory Defects Unit, in collaboration with INSERM* and the Collège de France, has recently identified mutations in a gene which, contrary to all other mutations of the deafness genes identified to date, do not cause a dysfunction in the auditory sensory organ, the cochlea. Based on the development of a mouse model, the...