title: The structure of alanine racemase from Acinetobacter baumannii.
abstract: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium which is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections. Numerous antibiotic-resistant strains exist, emphasizing the need for the development of new antimicrobials. Alanine racemase (Alr) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate dependent enzyme that is responsible for racemization between enantiomers of alanine. As D-alanine is an essential component of the bacterial cell wall, its inhibition is lethal to prokaryotes, making it an excellent antibiotic drug target. The crystal structure of A. baumannii alanine racemase (AlrAba) from the highly antibiotic-resistant NCTC13302 strain has been solved to 1.9 Å resolution. Comparison of AlrAba with alanine racemases from closely related bacteria demonstrates a conserved overall fold. The substrate entryway and active site of the enzymes were shown to be highly conserved. The structure of AlrAba will provide the template required for future structure-based drug-design studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scaletti-Hutchinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Opel-Reading
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakatani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Kurt L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Krause
mesh_terms: D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000201:enzymology*; D000411:Alanine Racemase / Q000737:chemistry*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D019281:Dimerization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D000411:Alanine Racemase
keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; alanine racemase