TY - JOUR AU - Strych, Ulrich AU - Davlieva, Milya AU - Longtin, Joseph P. AU - Murphy, Eileen L. AU - Im, Hookang AU - Benedik, Michael J. AU - Krause, Kurt L. PY - 2007 DA - 2007/05/17 TI - Purification and preliminary crystallization of alanine racemase from Streptococcus pneumoniae JO - BMC Microbiology SP - 40 VL - 7 IS - 1 AB - Over the past fifteen years, antibiotic resistance in the Gram-positive opportunistic human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae has significantly increased. Clinical isolates from patients with community-acquired pneumonia or otitis media often display resistance to two or more antibiotics. Given the need for new therapeutics, we intend to investigate enzymes of cell wall biosynthesis as novel drug targets. Alanine racemase, a ubiquitous enzyme among bacteria and absent in humans, provides the essential cell wall precursor, D-alanine, which forms part of the tetrapeptide crosslinking the peptidoglycan layer. SN - 1471-2180 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-7-40 DO - 10.1186/1471-2180-7-40 ID - Strych2007 ER -