New Receptors for signaling bacterial nucleotides

通过这一奖项，生命过程化学项目正在支持马里兰大学帕克分校的赫尔曼·O·辛蒂姆教授的研究。辛蒂姆教授将开发新的工具来研究控制细菌生物膜形成和发展的分子机制。二核苷酸在细菌中作为第二信使，调节细菌生物膜和毒力因子的产生，但许多参与二核苷酸信号转导的受体尚未被识别或完全表征。这项提议旨在开发用于鉴定和鉴定细菌中新的核苷酸受体的探针。还将努力开发与第二信使核苷酸密切相关的合成分子，以破坏信号核苷酸的生物活性。这些分子可以用来调节生物膜和浮游状态之间的转换。微生物生物膜有时会导致家庭或工业场所的管道堵塞。此外，在人或牲畜体内形成的生物膜有助于微生物感染的持久性。目前，能够有效分散微生物生物膜的无毒化合物屈指可数。因此，对微生物形成生物膜有更多见解的研究可能会导致确定根除生物膜的新战略。该项目的更广泛影响包括增加我们对细菌如何形成生物膜的理解，这可能有助于制定遏制细菌生物膜形成的策略。在STEM教育方面，参与该项目的高中生和教师、本科生和研究生研究人员将发展不同的技能，包括化学、分子生物学和微生物学。这一多学科的经验将使这些学生为不同的职业生涯做好准备。该奖项由生物科学(BIO)理事会分子和细胞生物科学(MCB)分部的系统和合成生物学分会共同资助。

With this award, the Chemistry of Life Processes program is supporting the research of Professor Herman O. Sintim of the University of Maryland at College Park. Professor Sintim will develop new tools to study the molecular mechanisms that govern biofilm formation and development in bacteria. Dinucleotides act as second messengers in bacteria to regulate bacterial biofilm and virulence factors production but many receptors that are involved in dinucleotide signaling are yet to be identified or fully characterized. This proposal aims to develop probes for the identification and characterization of new nucleotide receptors in bacteria. Efforts will also be directed towards the development of synthetic molecules that strongly associate with second messenger nucleotides to disrupt the biological activities of the signaling nucleotides. These molecules could be used to modulate the transition between the biofilm and planktonic states.Microbial biofilms are sometimes responsible for the clogging of pipes at homes or industrial settings. Additionally, biofilms that form in humans or livestock contribute to the persistence of microbial infections. Currently there are only a handful of non-toxic compounds that can effectively disperse microbial biofilms. Therefore studies that shed more insights into biofilm formation by microbes could lead to the identification of new strategies to eradicate biofilms. The broader Impacts of this project include increasing our understanding of how bacteria form biofilms, which could be useful for the development of strategies to curb bacterial biofilm formation. With regards to STEM education, high school students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate student researchers who work on this project will develop diverse skill sets, including chemistry, molecular biology and microbiology. This multi-disciplinary experience will prepare such students for diverse careers.This award is co-funded by the Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster in the Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) Division of the Biological Sciences (BIO) Directorate.