SignificanceNosocomial infections and infections of indwelling devices are major healthcare problems worldwide. These infections are strongly associated with the ability of pathogens to form biofilms on biotic and abiotic surfaces. Panantibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most troublesome pathogens, capable of colonizing medical devices by means of Csu pili, an adhesive organelle that belongs to the widespread class of archaic chaperone–usher pili. Here, we report an atomic-resolution insight into the mechanism of bacterial attachment to abiotic surfaces. We show that archaic pili use a binding mechanism that enables bacterial adhesion to structurally variable substrates. The results suggest a simple and cheap solution to reduce infections of A. baumannii and related pathogens.

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and p38MAPK are strongly implicated in excitotoxicity, a mechanism common to many neurodegenerative conditions, but the intermediary mechanism is unclear. NOS1AP is encoded by a gene recently associated with sudden cardiac death, diabetes-associated complications, and schizophrenia (