AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, August 29, 2005
Staff Medical Writers

According to a recent report from Germany, "Nanobacteria are suspected to be responsible for a number of diseases, i.e., kidney stones, heart disease, ovarian cancer, peripheral neuropathy, and reduced bone mineral density. Being protected by a mineral shell consisting of apatite, the nanovesicles can enter eukaryotic cells."

"Depending on the host's stress level," researchers wrote, "nanobacteria may carry a substantial layer of a protein based slime, instrumental in collecting calcium phosphate from the environment. Calcium phosphate is known to mediate the uptake of nucleic acids by eukaryotic cells."

"Surprisingly," said A.P. Sommer and colleagues at the University of Ulm, "a pathogenic effect of nanobacteria in HIV can be derived primarily from the trafficking of calcium phosphate in HIV infected cells, performed by primordial proteins."

"The inescapable conclusion," the authors suggested, "is that nanobacteria could promote genetic diversity in HIV."

Sommer and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Proteome Research (Primordial proteins and HIV - Part II. J Proteome Res. 2005 May-Jun;4(3):1022-4.

For additional information, contact A.P. Sommer, University of Ulm, Cent. Institute Biomedical Engineering, D-89081 Ulm, Germany.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Proteome Research is: American Chemical Society, 1155 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA.

Keywords: Ulm, Germany, HIV/AIDS, Calcium Phosphate, Nanobacteria, Genetic Diversity, Nucleic Acid Uptake.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Sommer AP. Primordial proteins and HIV-Part II, J Proteome Res. 2005 May-Jun;4(3):1022-4.

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