Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Neisseria meningitidis infections are a major cause of bacterial meningitis cases around the world. During an infection, Neisseria meningitidis employs surface lipoproteins in nutrient acquisition and host immune system evasion. The Moraes lab identified an outer membrane protein, 5H3 that was required for TbpB, a surface lipoprotein, to be expressed on the cell surface. My goal was to functionally characterize this outer membrane protein and to gain insight into its role in surface lipoprotein translocation. I found that other surface lipoproteins were dependent on 5H3 for surface translocation. I was also able to reconstitute this system in E.coli. While I was unsuccessful at obtaining a crystal structure of 5H3, I was able to identify potential interacting proteins through a pull down and mass spectroscopy experiment. These findings indicate that 5H3 is a non-specific surface lipoprotein transporter and could prove to be a valuable therapeutic target against pathogenic Neisseria.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Andrew S. Judd
Language: English
Subfield: Microbiology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2761254027