Electrophoretic Analysis of Bacterial Cell Wall Peptidoglycan

肽聚糖是一种刚性的网状结构，形成了细菌的外壁。这种分子赋予细菌形状，并保护它们免受外力的破坏。这个包围细菌细胞的“笼子”是由一系列酶，即青霉素结合蛋白构成的。我们对这些酶本身的结构和活动了解很多，但对这些蛋白质如何影响细菌生长或行为知之甚少。目前研究肽聚糖生物学功能的主要问题之一是分析技术复杂且耗时。为了解决这个问题，电泳程序被用于分析肽聚糖的化学组成。这种技术被称为荧光团辅助碳水化合物电泳（FACE），比目前可用的技术更容易、更快、更敏感。该项目的长期目标是解释肽聚糖的结构、合成和重塑，并利用这些信息来解释细菌代谢和生理的重要方面。该项目的具体目标是发展成熟的一种简化、快速的分析技术，以扩大对肽聚糖结构及其生物学功能的理解。FACE的简单性和速度将使研究细菌世界的肽聚糖组成成为可能，并对肽聚糖结构如何促进细菌生理产生新的见解。

Peptidoglycan is a rigid net-like structure that forms the outer wall of bacteria. This molecule gives bacteria their shape and protects them from destruction from outside forces. This "cage" that encloses bacterial cells is constructed by a family of enzymes, the penicillin binding proteins. We know a great deal about the structure and activities of these enzymes themselves, but little is known about how these proteins affect bacterial growth or behavior. One of the major problems in studying the biological functions of peptidoglycan is that current analytical techniques are complex and time-consuming. To address this problem, an electrophoresis procedure is being adapted to analyze the chemical composition of peptidoglycan. This technique, called fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE), is easier, faster, and more sensitive than currently available techniques. The long term goal of this project is to explain the structure, synthesis, and remodeling of peptidoglycan and to use this information to explain important aspects of bacterial metabolism and physiology. The specific objective of this project is to develop to maturity a simplified, rapid analytical technique that will expand the understanding of peptidoglycan structure and its biological functions. The simplicity and speed of FACE should make it possible to survey the peptidoglycan composition of the bacterial world and lead to new insights about how peptidoglycan structure contributes to bacterial physiology.