Periplasmic amidases in bacterial cell division.

在分裂过程中，细菌必须打破并重建包裹其细胞质膜的肽聚糖壁，以使子细胞分离。在大肠杆菌中，在分裂过程中负责分解肽聚糖的酶是由一种特殊的ABC转运蛋白样蛋白（FtsEX）及其同源接头蛋白（EnvC）调节的质周酰胺酶。该项目将结合x射线晶体学和微生物学技术，研究与肽聚糖重塑相关的质周酰胺酶的调节。需要回答的关键问题是质周酰胺酶如何与FtsEX-EnvC相互作用并被其激活。该项目旨在深入了解细菌细胞分裂过程中酰胺酶的活性，这可能对开发未来的抗菌剂有用。

During division, bacteria must break and rebuild the peptidoglycan wall that envelopes their cytoplasmic membrane to enable segregation of daughter cells. In E. coli, the enzymes responsible for breaking peptidoglycan during division are periplasmic amidases that are regulated by a specialised ABC transporter-like protein (FtsEX) and its cognate adaptor protein (EnvC).This project will address the regulation of periplasmic amidases associated with petidoglycan remodelling using a combination of X-ray crystallography and microbiological techniques. The key question to be answered is how periplasmic amidases interact with, and are activated by, FtsEX-EnvC. The project aims to provide deep molecular understanding of amidase activity during bacterial cell division that may be useful in developing future antibacterial agents.