Scientists map structure of streptococcus protien

SAN DIEGO A team led by the University of California, San Diego, has developed the first detailed description of the streptococcal M protein, which plays a major role in the ill effects of Group A Streptococcus, which causes a number of diseases including strep throat, rheumatic fever and necrotizing fasciitis or flesh-eating disease, according to the publication Science.

The researchers conducted tests using M1 protein, the version of the M protein present on the most common disease-associated GAS strains. These investigations may help scientists develop M1 protein-based vaccines against GAS, the researchers said.

“Using X-ray crystallography, we determined that M1 protein has an irregular, unstable structure. We created a modified version of M1 with a more stable structure, and found that it is just as effective at eliciting an immune reaction, but safer than the original version of M1, which has serious drawbacks to its use as a vaccine,” Partho Ghosh, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in UCSD’s Division of Physical Sciences, said in a statement.