The Florey Institute
  • Home
  • News and Events
  • Research
  • The Team
  • Antimicrobial Resistance MSc
  • Contact

Inverness Science Festival

17/5/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture

​Last weekend, the Florey Institute visited the Inverness Science Festival and we hope you had as much fun as we did. In conjunction with The Microbiology Society, our volunteers took along a number of engaging and illuminating activities, geared around getting you up close and personal with your very own microbiome.

The team, led by Dr. Daria Shamarina, introduced you to the concept of your skin as a living, breathing protective barrier. We showed you how it can become damaged, and crucially, how commensal (or ‘helpful’) bacteria and fungi play a fundamental role as foot soldiers protecting this defensive perimeter. Informed by recently published research carried out here at The Florey Institute, we also discussed how the distinction between organisms that are desirable to have on and within our bodies, and those that are not, is often far from clear, and that not all microorganisms come in peace!

With this in mind, we encouraged festivalgoers to have a go at propagating their microbiomes on pre-prepared agar plates, which we then transported back to the University of Sheffield and incubated - many of these are very beautiful and we encourage you all to check out them out at www.floreyinstitute.com/invisible-worlds-2019.html 

“Our research has shown that the ‘normal’ human microbiome can even help the opportunistic disease causing bacterium Staphylococcus aureus establish infection. The interaction between our microbiome, potentially dangerous organisms and our bodies is complex and far-reaching. It is fantastic to be able to bring it to life and show people in this way!” – Dr. Daria Shamarina

If you’ve got a passion for microbiology or if you enjoyed our activities at this event and would like to know more, check out our website, our research, and be sure to follow us on social media. If you’re really keen, you could even consider becoming a member of the Microbiology Society, who offer reduced rates for students.


1 Comment

New superantigens discovered in S. pyogenes

3/5/2019

2 Comments

 
The bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes is a common cause of sore throat and tonsillitis. It is also currently causing an unprecedented upsurge in scarlet fever infections in the UK. During infection, S. pyogenes can release superantigen toxins that aid the bacteria in causing disease and lead to the symptoms of scarlet fever. Superantigens work by bypassing the normal immune response to trigger an increase in the blood immune “T” cells, leading to inflammation that can be harmful to the patient. S. pyogenes can produce different combinations of different superantigen types, which may contribute to disease in slightly different 
​
Florey Institute member Dr Claire Turner and colleagues Dr Mark Reglinski and Prof Shiranee Sriskandan at Imperial College London recently identified two new superantigen genes in S. pyogenes, which they termed speQ and speR.  This work was published in the Journal of Infection. 
​
“Only by knowing about all of the different superantigens released by Streptococcus pyogenes can we fully understand how they function and how they contribute to diseases upsurges such as we are currently experiencing in the UK”   - Dr Claire Turner
​

Picture
Weekly scarlet fever notifications in England, 2012/13 onwards. There is an ongoing increase in scarlet fever cases since 2012/2013 with an even bigger increase during 2017/18. Figure taken from Health Protection Report, Vol 12, No. 13 April 2018 (published by Public Health England). 
​
​Reglinski et al. identified these genes initially in the genomes of two S. pyogenes isolates originally cultured from patients back in the 1930s. After searching the genomes of over 4000 other S. pyogenes isolates, they found these genes in other strain types of S. pyogenes too. Reglinski et al. confirmed that these new superantigens function in a similar way to other superantigens. 
​
Picture
Unlike a normal antigen (green), a superantigen (red) binds to the receptor on the antigen presenting cell and to the
​T cell receptor in a different way. This binding then triggers an increase in
​T cells, resulting in inflammation and the symptoms of diseases like scarlet fever. 

2 Comments
    News Feed
    Upcoming Events
    Past Events
    ​
    Picture

    News + Events Archives

    April 2021
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    June 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018

    2017 - 2015

Picture
Picture
The University of Sheffield 
Western Bank 
Sheffield, South Yorkshire 
S10 2TN 

United Kingdom
The University of Sheffield | Research | Collaborate | Team | Jobs | Cookies policy | Privacy
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.

BACK TO TOP

© 2015 The University of Sheffield

© DivTag Templates Ltd | All Rights Reserved