Despite the advance of biomedical science, infectious diseases remain one of the number one killers in the world. They claim the lives of millions of people annually, particularly in underdeveloped and developing countries. In fact, more than 32% of the health burden in Africa is caused by infectious diseases, e.g.,...
Tuberculoѕiѕ (TB) iѕ a number one killer among treatable infectious diseases. It is caused by the pathogenic bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculoѕiѕ that primarily affects the lungѕ. It infects one third of the world population and kills approximately 2 million people each year (based on WHO report). Drug-reѕiѕtant TB haѕ become a...
The pseudo-glycosyltransferase VldE catalyzes non-glycosidic C-N coupling between an unsaturated cyclitol and a saturated aminocyclitol with the conservation of the stereochemical configuration of the substrates to form validoxylamine A 7'-phosphate, the biosynthetic precursor of the antibiotic validamycin A. To study the molecular basis of its mechanism, the three-dimensional structures of...
Ultraviolet-protective compounds, such as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) and related gadusols produced by some bacteria, fungi, algae, and marine invertebrates, are critical for the survival of reef-building corals and other marine organisms exposed to high-solar irradiance. These compounds have also been found in marine fish, where their accumulation is thought...
Rifamycin B, a product of Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699, is the precursor of clinically used antibiotics that are effective against tuberculosis, leprosy and AIDS related mycobacterial infections. However, prolonged usage of these antibiotics has resulted in the emergence of rifamycin resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As part of our effort to...
Rifamycin B, a product of Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699, is the precursor of clinically used antibiotics that are effective against tuberculosis, leprosy and AIDS related mycobacterial infections. However, prolonged usage of these antibiotics has resulted in the emergence of rifamycin resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As part of our effort to...
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015 10.4 million people worldwide became infected with tuberculosis (TB) with 1.8 million TB related deaths. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow growing yet highly infectious bacterium. Among the first line of treatments...
Sugar phosphate cyclases (SPCs) are enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of many important natural products. SPCs form a unique cyclitol during the early steps in the biosynthesis of many natural products. These natural products include rifamycin, which is chemically modified to rifampicin and used clinically as an antituberculosis drug, and...
Pactamycin, a complex aminocyclitol compound produced by Streptomyces pactum, has significant antibiotic, antitumor, and antiplasmodial activity. However, this natural product has not been developed for clinical use due to its high cytotoxicity. Modulation of its biological properties by chemical synthesis has been difficult due to its complex chemical structure. Therefore,...
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by other members of the Mahmud Laboratory, Hatem Abuelizz, KhaledAlmabruk, Khaled
Alseud
Natural products isolated from bacteria can be developed into new therapeutic agents. The soil bacteria actinomycetes, specifically the Streptomyces species, are prolific producers of antibiotics. This thesis is composed of two projects which focus on novel drug discovery from soil bacteria collected from the Indonesian Black Water Ecosystem (the ICBB...