Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

Professor Ramesh Wigneshweraraj

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease

Professor of Molecular Microbiology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 1867s.r.wig

 
 
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Location

 

4.40BFlowers buildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{du:2017:10.1016/j.tube.2017.07.004,
author = {du, Plessis J and Cloete, R and Burchell, L and Sarkar, P and Warren, RM and Christoffels, A and Wigneshweraraj, S and Sampson, SL},
doi = {10.1016/j.tube.2017.07.004},
journal = {Tuberculosis},
pages = {82--90},
title = {Exploring the potential of T7 bacteriophage protein Gp2 as a novel inhibitor of mycobacterial RNA polymerase},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tube.2017.07.004},
volume = {106},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Over the past six decades, there has been a decline in novel therapies to treat tuberculosis, while the causative agent of this disease has become increasingly resistant to current treatment regimens. Bacteriophages (phages) are able to kill bacterial cells and understanding this process could lead to novel insights for the treatment of mycobacterial infections. Phages inhibit bacterial gene transcription through phage-encoded proteins which bind to RNA polymerase (RNAP), thereby preventing bacterial transcription. Gp2, a T7 phage protein which binds to the beta prime (β′) subunit of RNAP in Escherichia coli, has been well characterized in this regard. Here, we aimed to determine whether Gp2 is able to inhibit RNAP in Mycobacterium tuberculosis as this may provide new possibilities for inhibiting the growth of this deadly pathogen. Results from an electrophoretic mobility shift assay and in vitro transcription assay revealed that Gp2 binds to mycobacterial RNAP and inhibits transcription; however to a much lesser degree than in E. coli. To further understand the molecular basis of these results, a series of in silico techniques were used to assess the interaction between mycobacterial RNAP and Gp2, providing valuable insight into the characteristics of this protein-protein interaction.
AU  - du,Plessis J
AU  - Cloete,R
AU  - Burchell,L
AU  - Sarkar,P
AU  - Warren,RM
AU  - Christoffels,A
AU  - Wigneshweraraj,S
AU  - Sampson,SL
DO  - 10.1016/j.tube.2017.07.004
EP  - 90
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 1472-9792
SP  - 82
TI  - Exploring the potential of T7 bacteriophage protein Gp2 as a novel inhibitor of mycobacterial RNA polymerase
T2  - Tuberculosis
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tube.2017.07.004
VL  - 106
ER  -
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