The diadenosine polyphosphatases are a family of enzymes within the Nudix hydrolase superfamily. The diadenosine polyphosphatases from Legionella pneumophilia and Bartonella bacilliformis have been found to be important in the pathogen's ability to invade its host cells. It is of interest to know whether these enzymes act in the same way in M. tuberculosis and M. leprae.  If they are all found to be involved in invasiveness and thus in virulence, then these enzymes could be novel antibiotic targets.  Orf176 (NudH) is a diadenosine polyphosphatase in E. coli; phenotype work is currently underway with a NudH- knockout mutant. Initial growth curves indicate that there is a lag phase for the knockout mutant as compared to the wild-type. Complementation studies, using the M. tuberculosis and M. leprae diadenosine polyphosphatases incorporated into the NudH- knockout mutant, are the next experiments to be carried out.

Diadenosine polyphosphatases of the Nudix hydrolase superfamily

244th National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.