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Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons

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Microbiology

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

2023

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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

The Identification Of Small Molecule Inhibitors To Candida Albicans Phosphatidylserine Synthase, Yue Zhou Dec 2023

The Identification Of Small Molecule Inhibitors To Candida Albicans Phosphatidylserine Synthase, Yue Zhou

Doctoral Dissertations

Candida albicans phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase, encoded by the CHO1 gene, has been identified as a potential drug target for new antifungals against systemic candidiasis due to its importance in virulence, absence in the host and conservation among fungal pathogens. This dissertation is focused on the identification of inhibitors for this membrane enzyme. Cho1 has two substrates: cytidyldiphosphate-diacylglycerol (CDP-DAG) and serine. Previous studies identified a conserved CDP-alcohol phosphotransferase (CAPT) binding motif present within Cho1, and here we revealed that mutations in all but one conserved amino acid within the CAPT motif resulted in decreased Cho1. For serine, we have predicted a …