Structure and function of bacterial glycosyltransferase enzymes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Many different macromolecules containing complex carbohydrates (glycoconjugates) are found on the surfaces of living cells. These structures play crucial roles in the interactions between the cell and its environment, or in communications and interactions between one cell and another. Glycoconjugates on the surfaces of bacteria are important in survival against factors in the environment, or against the protective responses of mammalian or plant hosts. The function of a particular glycoconjugate is often dictated by its structure. The tremendous diversity of glycoconjugate structures results from the activity and specificity of enzymes involved in their formation; these enzymes are known as glycosyltransferases. Despite the importance of glycosyltransferases in biology, we have only a limited knowledge of their mechanisms of action and the structural features that dictate their specificity. We propose a detailed molecular analysis of several glycosyltransferases, to address different original questions about their action and specificity. We will focus on some novel bacterial systems where my laboratory has developed considerable expertise over the last 25 years. The information arising from these studies will be of fundamental importance and is predicted to have a broad impact on our understanding of the synthesis of glycoconjugates in bacteria and other biological systems. At a practical level, such information represents a significant step toward the ability to modulate glycosyltransferase activities to engineer tailor-made glycoconjugate structures with specific industrial or clinical applications.