Researchers have discovered a protein that could be key to blocking the most common bacterial cause of human food poisoning in the United States.

Chances are, if you’ve eaten undercooked poultry or cross contaminated food by washing raw chicken, you may be familiar with the food-borne pathogen.

«Many people that get sick think, ‘oh, that’s probably Salmonella,’ but it is even more likely it’s Campylobacter,» said Nick Negretti (’20 Ph.D.), a lead member of the research team in Michael Konkel’s Laboratory in WSU’s School of Molecular Biosciences.

According to a study on the research recently published in Nature Communications, a secreted protein known as CiaD facilitates cell entry by Campylobacter and takes control of important cell processes by changing the composition of a protein complex inside the cell.

By gaining insight into the infection process and the specific actions of the Campylobacter secreted proteins, the work gives the WSU team and the rest of the field a foundation to understanding why infections occur and persist.

Until the Konkel Lab’s latest finding, the functions of the bacterium’s proteins and how they infect the cell were largely unknown.

Story Source:
Materials provided by Washington State University. Original written by Josh Babcock. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.