NIH funds Pinghua Liu and his group to perform mechanistic studies of enzymes in isoprenoid biosynthesis
The goal of this award ($1.9 million over 5 years – 2010-2015) is to characterize the mechanism of a key enzyme in the deoyxylulose biosynthetic pathway as well as identify its key partner proteins. This pathway, identified only in bacteria and plants, produces the required compounds for isoprenoid synthesis. The results of this work could eventually lead to new broad-spectrum antibiotics or toward more efficient bioengineering based isoprenoid production. The work has developed an enzyme preparation that is many times more active than those previously reported, providing a crucial piece to illuminating enzymes. These isoprenoid biosynthetic studies will guide the development of mechanism- based inhibitors of the DXP pathway enzymes, which can be used as broad-spectrum antibiotics. The public health benefit will result from the development of effective new treatments for drug-resistant strains of pathogens (e.g., tuberculosis), currently of increasing concern worldwide.