Research Initiation Award: Small Molecule Inhibitors of the Phosphoenolpyruvate-Phosphotransferase System

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，这些教师正在建立新的研究计划或重新定向和重建现有的研究计划。预计该奖项将进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善其所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。该项目的目标是开发新一代微生物控制剂。这可能导致开发新的微生物控制战略，从而开发新的技术和方案，并在工程以及物理、生物、医学和制药科学中应用。该项目将加强霍华德大学本科生的研究经验和培训。此外，它还将产生知识、工具和应用程序，这些知识、工具和应用程序将有助于维持霍华德大学现有的科学和教育努力；被整合到现有课程中；并帮助开发具有跨学科重点的新课程。该项目旨在识别和表征细菌磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸-碳水化合物磷酸转移酶系统(PTS)的小分子抑制剂。这些研究的具体目的是测量候选化合物抑制PTS活性的特异性和效力；评估候选化合物对生物被膜形成的广谱抑制作用；并建立选定的候选化合物的作用机制。鉴于PTS活性和生物被膜形成之间的联系，本项目假设PTS小分子调节剂的鉴定将揭示通过干扰微生物代谢功能来调控生物被膜形成的新工具和方法。确定化学结构和目标之间的新的相互作用将是该项目的结果。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improve research and teaching at his home institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. The goal of the project is to develop a new generation of agents for the control of microorganisms. This may lead to the development of novel microbial control strategies leading to the development of new techniques and protocols with applications in engineering as well as the physical, biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences. This project will enhance the research experience and training of undergraduate students at Howard University. Additionally, it will produce knowledge, tools, and applications that will: help sustain existing scientific and educational efforts at Howard University; be integrated into existing courses; and help develop new courses with an interdisciplinary focus.This project seeks to identify and characterize small-molecule inhibitors of the bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransferease system (PTS). The studies specifically aim to measure specificity and potency of candidate compounds to inhibit PTS activity; to evaluate the broad-spectrum inhibition of biofilm formation by candidate compounds; and to establish the mechanism of action of selected candidate compounds. Given the connection between PTS activity and biofilm formation, this project hypothesizes that the identification of small-molecule modulators of the PTS will reveal new tools and approaches to regulate biofilm formation by interfering with microbial metabolic functions. Identification of novel interactions between chemical structures and targets will result from this project.