Mechanisms of Gonococcal Pilin Antigenic and Phase Variation

MERIT扩展期摘要（2016年6月） 致病性奈瑟氏菌是依赖于几种抗原的专性人类病原体， 变异系统不断地在人类群体中定居并引起疾病。 这项建议将继续我们的研究，以促进分子机制， 淋球菌菌毛蛋白抗原变异菌毛蛋白的高频变化 氨基酸序列是由18个氨基酸序列之一之间的基因转换反应介导的。 沉默的菌毛蛋白拷贝和单一表达的菌毛蛋白基因。在下一个融资期，我们将 继续进行我们对分子机制的领域领先调查， 需要在细菌的环境中实现高频率的基因转换 染色体这些创新性的研究成果将对今后的研究产生重大的影响 奈瑟氏球菌的发病机制，抗原变异机制，DNA重组和 复制，以及替代DNA结构对所有细胞中分子过程的作用。

Abstract for the MERIT Extension Period (June 2016) The pathogenic Neisseria are obligate human pathogens that rely on several antigenic variation systems to continually colonize and cause disease in the human population. This proposal will continue our studies into the molecular mechanisms used to promote pilin antigenic variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. High frequency changes in the pilin amino acid sequence are mediated by gene conversion reactions between one of 18 silent pilin copies and the single expressed pilin gene. In the next funding period we will continue to conduct our field-leading investigations into the molecular mechanisms require to effect high frequency gene conversion within the context of a bacterial chromosome. The results of these innovative studies will have great impact on the study of Neisserial pathogenesis, mechanisms of antigenic variation, DNA recombination and replication, and the role of alternative DNA structures on molecular processes in all cells.