study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry is the first to describe a signaling pathway that affects communication — a process called quorum sensing — between Streptococcus bacteria cells.
This type of bacterium is responsible for illnesses like strep throat, scarlet fever, and some cases of soft tissue infections and pneumonia. In extreme cases, or when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, these common but serious infections can lead to death.
The University of Illinois at Chicago researchers who wrote the paper have been studying Streptococcus bacteria and have hypothesized that quorum sensing pathways are ideal drug targets for manipulating bacterial activity and suppressing virulence.
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