| Popis: |
Polytheonamides are extensively modified peptides produced by bacteria in the microbiomes of marine sponges. These pore-forming peptides are toxic to cells, which makes them intriguing as possible cancer drugs. A major problem is that the bacteria that make the peptides can’t be cultured. Now, Jorn Piel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, and coworkers have identified a cluster of enzymes in another bacterium that produces similarly hypermodified peptides (Nat. Chem. 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41557-019-0323-9). And unlike the bacteria from the marine sponge, Microvirgula aerodenitrificans can be grown in cell culture. M. aerodenitrificans produces its own class of modified peptides called aeronamides. The peptides are ribosomally synthesized with leader and core portions. The enzyme cluster recognizes the leader portion and modifies the core. The modifications include iterative epimerization to introduce 21 d-amino acids, methylation of various carbon and nitrogen atoms in the peptide, a... |
