Hamilton, Montana based Rocky Mountain Laboratory researchers discover new staph toxin

A team of local scientists researching Staph – the most common cause for bacterial infection in the industrial world – has discovered and isolated an abundant and potent toxin that kills white blood cells in humans.

Working with researchers at other National Institutes of Health facilities, a Rocky Mountain Laboratories http://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/dir/rml/Pages/default.aspx team led by Frank DeLeo, chief of RML’s Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, began studying the proteins involved in producing the variety of Staph that produces the so-called community infections, where the disease is spread to otherwise healthy people outside the confines of hospitals, where the bacteria is common and typically preys on those with weakened immune function.

By SEPP JANNOTTA – Staff Reporter

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