Conformation of LpxK as an Essential Enzyme in Neisseria Gonorrhoeae (2014)

Undergraduate: Osagumwena Osaretin

Faculty Advisor: Robert Nicholas
Department: Chemistry

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Neisseria Gonorrhoeae is the strain of bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea. The infection has been difficult to treat due to the bacteria's ability to go undetected by the immune system as well as develop resistance to many antibiotics that have been used to treat the infection in the past. The LpxK protein, investigated in this project, is a membrane-associated lipid kinase involved in an essential lipid A biosynthetic pathway which is highly conserved across nearly all Gram-negative bacteria, including N. Gonorrhoeae, and a pathway that has not been previously studied as a target for antibiotics. If LpxK is determined to be essential for the perpetuation of N. Gonorrhoeae, it can begin to serve as a reliable target for antibiotics to kill the bacteria and lead to a novel, penetrative treatment of the infection.