is a Gram-negative helical bacterium. Its helical morphology, maintained by the peptidoglycan (PG) layer, plays a key role in its transmission in the environment, colonization, and pathogenic properties. The previously characterized PG hydrolases Pgp1 and Pgp2 are important for generating helical morphology, with deletion mutants being rod-shaped and showing alterations in their PG muropeptide profiles in comparison to the wild type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe helical morphology of Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterium involved in host gut colonization and pathogenesis in humans, is determined by the structure of the peptidoglycan (PG) layer. This structure is dictated by trimming of peptide stems by the LD-carboxypeptidase Pgp2 within the periplasm. The interaction interface between Pgp2 and PG to select sites for peptide trimming is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCampylobacter jejuni is a helix-shaped enteric bacterial pathogen and a common cause of gastroenteritis. We recently developed a mouse model for this human pathogen utilizing the SIGIRR-deficient mouse strain, which exhibits significant intestinal inflammation in response to intestinal C. jejuni infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHelicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni are human pathogens and causative agents of gastric ulcers/cancer and gastroenteritis, respectively. Recent studies have uncovered a series of proteases that are responsible for maintaining the helical shape of these organisms. The H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCampylobacter jejuni is a major source of foodborne illness in the developed world, and a common cause of clinical gastroenteritis. Exactly how C. jejuni colonizes its host's intestines and causes disease is poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the importance of Campylobacter jejuni as a pathogen, little is known about the fundamental aspects of its peptidoglycan (PG) structure and factors modulating its helical morphology. A PG dl-carboxypeptidase Pgp1 essential for maintenance of C. jejuni helical shape was recently identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2010
The Pleiades Promoter Project integrates genomewide bioinformatics with large-scale knockin mouse production and histological examination of expression patterns to develop MiniPromoters and related tools designed to study and treat the brain by directed gene expression. Genes with brain expression patterns of interest are subjected to bioinformatic analysis to delineate candidate regulatory regions, which are then incorporated into a panel of compact human MiniPromoters to drive expression to brain regions and cell types of interest. Using single-copy, homologous-recombination "knockins" in embryonic stem cells, each MiniPromoter reporter is integrated immediately 5' of the Hprt locus in the mouse genome.
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