Water Safety Plan, Monochloramine Disinfection and Extensive Environmental Sampling Effectively Control and Other Waterborne Pathogens in Nosocomial Settings: The Ten-Year Experience of an Italian Hospital.

contamination control is crucial in healthcare settings where patients suffer an increased risk of disease and fatal outcome. To ensure an effective management of this health hazard, the accurate application of a hospital-specific Water Safety Plan (WSP), the choice of a suitable water disinfection system and an extensive monitoring program are required. Here, the ten-year experience of an Italian hospital is reported: since its commissioning, Legionellosis risk management has been entrusted to a multi-disciplinary Working Group, applying the principles of the World Health Organization's WSP.

Heme binding and peroxidase activity of a secreted minicatalase.

Microbial pathogens often require efficient and robust H O scavenger activities to survive in the presence of reactive oxygen species generated by inflammatory responses. In addition to catalases and peroxidases, enzymes known to scavenge H O , a novel class of secreted minicatalases is found in diderm bacteria. Here, we characterize the Helicobacter pylori (Hp) minicatalase: a monomeric hemoprotein with catalase core homology.

Metal-responsive promoter DNA compaction by the ferric uptake regulator.

Short-range DNA looping has been proposed to affect promoter activity in many bacterial species and operator configurations, but only few examples have been experimentally investigated in molecular detail. Here we present evidence for a metal-responsive DNA condensation mechanism controlled by the Helicobacter pylori ferric uptake regulator (Fur), an orthologue of the widespread Fur family of prokaryotic metal-dependent regulators. H.

The identification of an integral membrane, cytochrome c urate oxidase completes the catalytic repertoire of a therapeutic enzyme.

In living organisms, the conversion of urate into allantoin requires three consecutive enzymes. The pathway was lost in hominid, predisposing humans to hyperuricemia and gout. Among other species, the genomic distribution of the two last enzymes of the pathway is wider than that of urate oxidase (Uox), suggesting the presence of unknown genes encoding Uox.

New insights into the regulatory mechanisms of ppGpp and DksA on Escherichia coli RNA polymerase-promoter complex.

The stringent response modulators, guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) and protein DksA, bind RNA polymerase (RNAP) and regulate gene expression to adapt bacteria to different environmental conditions. Here, we use Atomic Force Microscopy and in vitro transcription assays to study the effects of these modulators on the conformation and stability of the open promoter complex (RPo) formed at the rrnA P1, rrnB P1, its discriminator (dis) variant and λ pR promoters. In the absence of modulators, RPo formed at these promoters show different extents of DNA wrapping which correlate with the position of UP elements.

Unravelling mechanisms behind the biological activity of bis(S-citronellalthiosemicarbazonato)nickel(II).

Bis(S-citronellalthiosemicarbazonato)nickel(II), [Ni(tcitr)2], is a compound that inhibits proliferation of tumour line U937 by inducing a G2/M block and leading the cancer cells to apoptosis. This nickel derivative shows no activity on non proliferating healthy cells. In this paper we report our studies on the action mechanisms of [Ni(tcitr)2].