How bacteria nestle in

Nearly every second woman suffers from a bladder infection at some point in her life. Researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have now discovered how the intestinal bacterium E. coli attaches itself so successfully to the surface of the urinary tract. Many women have already experienced how painful a bladder infection can be: a burning pain during urination and a constant urge to urinate are the typical symptoms. The main cause of recurrent urinary tract infections is a bacterium found in the normal flora of the intestine, Escherichia coli . The bacteria enter the urinary tract, attach to the surface and cause inflammation. The teams of Rudolf Glockshuber, Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics at ETH Zurich, along with Timm Maier and Beat Ernst, Professors at the University of Basel, have now discovered how bacteria adhere to the urinary tract under urine flow via the protein FimH and subsequently travel up the urethra. Bacterium adheres with FimH.