Artificial selection of geneticially encoded TB drugs

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) in humans. World Health Organization (WHO) conforms that, TB is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Mycobacterium cell wall is composed of a complex, formed by peptidoglycan, lipid mycolic acid, and polysaccharide arabinogalactan. Arabinogalactan (AG) is a heteropolysaccharide that comprises of arabinose and galactose sugars that are present in the furanoid ring form, D-galactofuranosyl (Galf) and D-arabinofuranosyl (Araf). UDP-Galactopyranose mutase (UGM) catalyzes the reversible conversion of UDP-galactopyranose (UDP-Galp) to UDP-galactofuranose (UDP-Galf). It plays a key role in the biosynthesis of the galactofuran. In this study, we will focus on UGM as our molecular target. The aim of this research project is to identify potent inhibitory molecules that restrict cell wall biosynthesis by binding to UGM and inhibiting its activity. mRNA display technique will be applied to identify inhibitory molecules from a library of non-standard macrocyclic peptides.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Kwan

Student:

Partner:

University of Tsukuba

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Concordia University

Program: