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Wall Teichoic Acid Biosynthesis: A New Target for Antimicrobial Intervention?
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Wall teichoic acids (WTAs) are anionic polymers that decorate the peptidoglycan layers of many Gram-positive organisms. WTAs are essential for survival or virulence in several important bacterial pathogens. Blocking WTA biosynthesis may be an effective strategy for treating bacterial infections. Studies of the WTA biosynthetic enzymes have been hampered because the membrane-anchored pathway intermediates are hard to isolate from natural sources. We have developed strategies to make substrates for all the enzymes in the major WTA biosynthetic pathways and can now study these enzymes. Mechanistic and structural studies of key WTA enzymes from Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus are now underway, and we are developing both in vitro and cell-based approaches to discover inhibitors of wall teichoic acid biosynthesis in S. aureus.
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The biosynthetic pathway for wall teichoic acid biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis 168
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Selected Publications: |
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"In Vitro Reconstitution of Two Essential Steps in Wall Teichoic Acid Biosynthesis" Ginsberg C, Zhang Y, Yuan Y, and Walker S. ACS Chemical Biology, 2006;1:25-28.
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