Abstract
The chaperone-usher (CU) pathway constitutes one of the most prevalent mechanisms for the assembly of adhesive pili on the surface of Gram-negative bacteria. Studies at the interface of genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology have detailed the functions of the chaperone and the usher, providing a step-by-step understanding of pilus biogenesis by this sophisticated molecular machine. Further work has elucidated the molecular basis of specificity in host recognition by CU pili. Snapshots in CU pilus assembly and CU pilus-mediated pathogenesis have unveiled necessary molecular details for the design and application of promising antibiotic compounds that may soon prevent and treat acute, chronic, and recurrent bacterial infections in humans.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Escherichia coli |
| Subtitle of host publication | Pathotypes and Principles of Pathogenesis: Second Edition |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 363-386 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123970480 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 5 2013 |
Keywords
- Chaperone
- Donor-strand complementation
- Donor-strand exchange
- Mannoside
- Molecular machine
- Pilicide
- Pilus
- Urinary tract infections
- Usher