Poster Presentation The 47th Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function 2022

Fab-ulous insights into Acinetobacter baumannii fatty acid synthesis reductases (#156)

Emily M Cross 1 , Felise G Adams 2 , Jack K Waters 2 , David Aragão 3 , Bart A Eijkelkamp 2 , Jade K Forwood 1
  1. School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
  2. College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
  3. Diamond Light Source, Didcot, OX110DE, United Kingdom

Antibiotic resistance is a major cause for concern in modern healthcare with increasingly difficult to treat 'Superbug' infections. In particular, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is categorized as an urgent threat by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and a top priority for drug development by the World Health Organization (WHO). Thus, identification of novel targets and the development of new therapeutics against this Gram-negative pathogen is urgently required. Bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis (Fab) enzymes, particularly the reductases FabG and FabI, present attractive targets for inhibitors. In the present study, both a low-molecular weight and high-molecular weight FabG homolog were structurally characterized with distinct architecture and coenzyme preference. To date, this is the second bacterial high-molecular weight FabG structurally characterized following FabG4 from Mycobacterium. This enzyme may contribute to Acinetobacter survival and success as a pathogen, making it a potential target for therapeutic development. 

  1. Cross, E.M., Adams, F.G., Waters, J.K. et al. Insights into Acinetobacter baumannii fatty acid synthesis 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductases. Sci Rep 11, 7050 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86400-1