Scientists discover how a bacterial pathogen breaks down barriers to enter and infect cells

Scientists from the Schepens Eye Research Institute have found for the first time that a bacterial pathogen can literally mow down protective molecules, known as mucins, on mucus membranes to enter and infect a part of the body. Their landmark study, published in the March 7, 2012, PLoS ONE, describes how an "epidemic" strain of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes conjunctivitis, secretes an enzyme to damage mucins and breach the mucosal membrane to infect and inflame the eye. According to Ilene Gipson, Ph.D., the discovery may ultimately lead to new ways of diagnosing, treating and preventing bacterial infections originating not only in the eye but in other parts of the body as well. Until the current PLoS ONE study, little has been known about how epidemic infection causing bacteria are able to cross through the mucin barrier.