A drinks reception will take place after the lecture.
The cell wall envelope of Gram-positive bacteria is decorated with specific proteins, teichoic acids and polysaccharide polymers, thereby generating biological functions that enable the pathogenesis of specific diseases. Sortase enzymes, transpeptidases that cleave the sorting signals of secreted polypeptides, tether proteins to discrete sites within the bacterial cell wall envelope or promote the assembly of adhesive pili.
Other transpeptidases as well as transglycosidases immobilize polysaccharides in the cell wall envelope and provide for the assembly of surface (S)-layer proteins by binding to their S-layer homology (SLH) domains. Insights into the assembly and function of the bacterial envelope may be exploited for the design of inhibitors, useful for the treatment of infectious diseases, or for the development of preventive strategies that raise immunity against specific pathogens.