Sugar coated armour: exploring UDP galactopyranose mutase (UGM) as a potential antifungal target

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Modern medical treatments including advances in cancer therapy and organ transplantation render patients highly susceptible to infection due to a weakened immune system. Fungal infections are often fatal in these patients. Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that produces spores found widely in the environment. In healthy people inhaled spores are harmless and eliminated by the immune system but in certain groups, including those with existing lung problems, they cause disease. The most serious, ‘invasive Aspergillosis‘, leads to life-threatening infections that are notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat.A shield of sugar-coated armour makes up the cell wall surrounding and protecting the fungus. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of this important structure. These need addressed by scientists and clinicians using novel laboratory based approaches. With assistance from the MRC, I seek to improve our understanding of the structure and function of a protein (enzyme) responsible for producing one of the novel sugars and to devise a way of identifying small molecules to block its function. This work is a crucial first step towards ultimately improving diagnostic tests and treatments for the increasing burden of fungal infections.