Artificially designed bacterial enzymes may allow bacteria to evade the immune system

Scientists have produced the first detailed molecular blueprint of the Lit bacterial enzyme, which may play an "invisible" role in the infection process by reducing the immune response

Such a blueprint allows drug designers to discover potential weaknesses in the bacterial library as they seek to develop new treatments to help us win the war against antibiotic resistance

This research was led by scientists from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and Trinity Institute of Biomedical Sciences (TBSI), Trinity College Dublin, and was just published by the internationally renowned journal Nature Communications

Lipoprotein and its role in bacterial infection

Lipoproteins have multiple functions in bacterial cells

There are more and more enzymes responsible for the construction of lipoproteins, including the recently discovered Lit (Lipoprotein Intramolecular Transacylase), which can produce a specific lipoprotein that "cools the immune response"-the addition of Lit makes bacteria in the host The possibility of a secret foothold in the body

In order to understand the function of Lit at the molecular level, the research team led by Sany has just generated the most important, high-resolution crystal structure of Lit from Bacillus cereus

Combined with other analytical techniques, molecular dynamics simulation and quantum mechanics methods, the team now has a detailed understanding of its functions

Professor Martin Caffrey, a retired researcher, is the senior author of this study

"We believe that Lit is likely to be a virulence factor that has a negative impact on the host's immune response to infection

"The high-resolution crystal structure and understanding of the role of bacteria in bacterial cells are based on a strong foundation.

Original Search: Samir Olatunji, Katherine Bowen, Chia-Ying Huang, Dietmar Weichert, Warispreet Singh, Irina G.