NEW TARGETS FOR ANTIBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT - BIOGENESIS OF SURFACE ADHERENCE STRUCTURES

Infection of a host by pathogenic bacteria requires that the bacteria are able to bind to the target tissue to colonize and/or begin the pro cess of invasion. This adhesion event involves specific interactions b etween receptors on the host tissue and external surface structures pr oduced by the bacterial cell. Gram-positive bacteria utilize a special class of surface-anchored proteins for this purpose, while Gram-negat ive microorganisms use a more complex structure, called a pilus, to ac hieve the same end. In both cases, a highly conserved pathway is utili zed to export, assemble and anchor these surface structures. As such, these pathways represent targets for antibiotic development. Compounds that prevent the assembly of bacterial surface proteins will cripple the ability of bacteria to interact with and colonize host tissue lead ing to rapid bacterial clearance from the body.