Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study reveals how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates.
The modification of the host protein creates a dam, blocking proteins that would be used as bricks in cellular construction from reaching their destination, says Zhao-Qing Luo, associate professor of biological sciences at Purdue University.
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