04-03-2015
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) announced that Rita Sobral, from UCIBIO at FCT-NOVA, has been awarded a research grant to study “A new target inside an old molecule: glutamate amidation of peptidoglycan”.
Despite the large number of antimicrobials introduced into clinical practice for almost a century, infectious diseases remain a growing public health threat, mainly due to the continuous emergence of multi-resistant strains and urging the need for new antimicrobial strategies.
The cell wall peptidoglycan is the most efficient antibiotic target and although its synthetic pathway is thoroughly characterized, the mechanism and function of its secondary modifications are still elusive. The murT and gatD genes, responsible for amidation of peptidoglycan, were recently identified in Staphylococcus aureus. The MurT-GatD enzymatic complex was found to be essential for bacterial growth, beta-lactam resistance and virulence, being an attractive target for the development of new drugs. “We will characterize the amidation step and elucidate its role in host interaction, which will help to design new antimicrobials in the future”, explains Rita Sobral.
In 2015, 15 researchers in Europe have been awarded with ESCMID grants. These grants help young and excellent investigators to pursue groundbreaking research in the fields of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases.
