title: Pilus Assembly in Gram-Positive Bacteria.
abstract: Pili of Gram-positive bacteria are unique structures on the bacterial surface, assembled from covalently linked polypeptide subunits. Pilus assembly proceeds by transpeptidation reactions catalyzed by sortases, followed by covalent anchoring of the filament in the peptidoglycan layer. Another distinctive property is the presence of intramolecular isopeptide bonds, conferring extraordinary chemical and mechanical stability to these elongated structures. Besides their function in cell adhesion and biofilm formation, this section discusses possible application of pilus constituents as vaccine components against Gram-positive pathogens.
authors: GSK Vaccines, Siena, Italy. werner.x.pansegrau@gsk.com.
authors: Werner
authors: W
authors: Pansegrau
authors: GSK Vaccines, Siena, Italy.
authors: Fabio
authors: F
authors: Bagnoli
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D018441:Biofilms; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines