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APMS Colloquium

Thursday, February 5, 9:45-10:45 am

Prof. Melanie L Johnston
NAU

Studying Fatty Acid Synthesis in Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria

Abstract: Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) include mycobacteria other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agents of Tuberculosis (TB) and Leprosy. NTM cause infections that are challenging to treat, and infections occur at approximately 10 times higher rates than Tuberculosis (TB) in the United States, with approximately 100,000 infected individuals annually. Thus, antimycobacterial drug discovery efforts are crucial to the treatment of NTM infections. Mycolic acids, in part generated by the fatty acid synthesis II (FAS-II) pathway, are crucial to mycobacterial growth and pathogenesis. FAS-II elongates C16-18 or greater acyl chain substrates, forming C50-56 meromycolate products, which are further modified into mycolic acids. Here, I'll discuss our work toward understanding the organization and regulation of FAS-ll and our efforts to develop an inhibitor for MabA, the NADPH-dependent B-ketoacyl-AcM reductase. Exploring MabA inhibition is critical since it currently lacks a specific inhibitor in mycobacteria, and inhibition of multiple enzymes in this pathway is synergistically lethal to mycobacteria. Our work will provide information essential to the development of improved inhibitors, which can be used to gain a better understanding of FAS-Il pathway.

Bio: Dr. Melanie Johnston is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Arizona University. Her research focuses on the biochemistry and enzymology of the mycobacterial fatty acid synthesis Il pathway, toward inhibitor development and biocatalysis. Dr. Johnston earned her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine studying the enzymatic mechanism and substrate specificity of a target enzyme in E. coli under the supervision of Dr. Caren Freel Meyers. She then did her postdoctoral work at Rutgers New Jersey School of Medicine, where she was an NIH-IRACDA fellow. There, in the lab of Dr. Joel Freundlich, she focused on developing biochemical assays to support mycobacterial drug discovery, as well as bacterial drug uptake and metabolism. Now, at Northern Arizona University, Dr. Johnston continues her research on the enzymes in mycobacterial metabolism.

Health and Learning Center (Building 25) Room 3108.
Join Via Zoom

Sponsored by:

• Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (¡MIRA!)
• Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest (NCI-SW) and Arizona State University (ASU)

For more information please contact APMS at APMS@nau.edu