The long term goals of the present application are to determine the catalytic mechanisms, three-dimensional structures and physiological function of bacterial N-acetyltransferases. As a result of the intensive genome sequencing efforts of the last decade, and modern bioinformatics approaches to the identification of protein superfamilies, some 10,000 members of the GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) family have been identified. In bacteria, these include family members whose function is (1) the acetylation of aminoglycoside antibiotics, (2) the N-terminal acetylation of the ribosomal proteins S5, S18 and L12, and (3) unknown.
The specific aims of the current application are organized to address these three classes of bacterial N-acetyltransferases. Of the thousands of encoded bacterial GNAT proteins, only three are known to acetylate proteins. They are encoded by the rimI, rimJ and rimL genes that are presumed to function in the alpha-N-acetylation of their cognate substrates; the ribosomal S5, S18 and L12 proteins, respectively. The state of acetylation of the latter protein is correlated with bacterial growth, suggesting that reversible enzymatic acetylation/deacetylation is important in controlling bacterial growth. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a clinically significant problem that threatens current paradigms of antibacterial chemotherapy. Aminoglycosides were one of the first classes of antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections, and act by specifically inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis. Clinically, the vast majority of resistance is due to the expression of enzymes that modify the drug, including enzymes that phosphorylate, adenylate or acetylate aminoglycosides. Of these three activities, the expression of aminoglycoside N-acetyltransferases is most prevalent in clinical isolates. We will continue our examination of bacterial aminoglycoside N-acetyltransferases. Finally, in the genomes of the important human pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium and Myeobaeterium tuberculosis, there are 29 and 20, respectively, predicted GNAT family members, for which only 8 and 4, respectively, have putative, annotated functions, most of which include the functions discussed above. We will develop reagents and methods to define the physiological substrates for these enzymes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI060899-03
Application #
7060062
Study Section
Physical Biochemistry Study Section (PB)
Program Officer
Alexander, William A
Project Start
2004-05-01
Project End
2009-04-30
Budget Start
2006-05-01
Budget End
2007-04-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$451,673
Indirect Cost
Name
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
110521739
City
Bronx
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10461
Chow, Carmen; Hegde, Subray; Blanchard, John S (2017) Mechanistic Characterization of Escherichia coli l-Aspartate Oxidase from Kinetic Isotope Effects. Biochemistry 56:4044-4052
Amorim Franco, Tathyana M; Blanchard, John S (2017) Bacterial Branched-Chain Amino Acid Biosynthesis: Structures, Mechanisms, and Drugability. Biochemistry 56:5849-5865
Amorim Franco, Tathyana Mar; Favrot, Lorenza; Vergnolle, Olivia et al. (2017) Mechanism-Based Inhibition of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Branched-Chain Aminotransferase by d- and l-Cycloserine. ACS Chem Biol 12:1235-1244
Johnson, Alison J; Kennedy, Steven C; Lindestam Arlehamn, Cecilia S et al. (2017) Identification of Mycobacterial RplJ/L10 and RpsA/S1 Proteins as Novel Targets for CD4+ T Cells. Infect Immun 85:
Favrot, Lorenza; Blanchard, John S; Vergnolle, Olivia (2016) Bacterial GCN5-Related N-Acetyltransferases: From Resistance to Regulation. Biochemistry 55:989-1002
Vergnolle, Olivia; Xu, Hua; Tufariello, JoAnn M et al. (2016) Post-translational Acetylation of MbtA Modulates Mycobacterial Siderophore Biosynthesis. J Biol Chem 291:22315-22326
Amorim Franco, Tathyana M; Hegde, Subray; Blanchard, John S (2016) Chemical Mechanism of the Branched-Chain Aminotransferase IlvE from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Biochemistry 55:6295-6303
Noy, Tahel; Vergnolle, Olivia; Hartman, Travis E et al. (2016) Central Role of Pyruvate Kinase in Carbon Co-catabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Biol Chem 291:7060-9
Hazra, Saugata; Kurz, Sebastian G; Wolff, Kerstin et al. (2015) Kinetic and Structural Characterization of the Interaction of 6-Methylidene Penem 2 with the ?-Lactamase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Biochemistry 54:5657-64
Hazra, Saugata; Xu, Hua; Blanchard, John S (2014) Tebipenem, a new carbapenem antibiotic, is a slow substrate that inhibits the ?-lactamase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Biochemistry 53:3671-8

Showing the most recent 10 out of 36 publications