Investigating the role of the TctC homolog BP3756 in the glutathione metabolism of the reemergent pathogen Bordetella pertussis

• Grant number: 23/15842-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Biochemistry of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Talachia Rosa
• Grantee: Luiza de França Manzini Pinheiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/11936-6 - The Tripartite Tricarboxylate Transporter (TTT) family: investigating signalling and transport networks in the re-emerging pathogen Bordetella pertussis, AP.JP

Abstract

Pertussis is an infectious disease that affects the upper respiratory tract, caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Despite being vaccine-preventable, it was included in the category of re-emerging diseases in the last decade after an increase in cases since 1990 worldwide. B. pertussis has 78 genes in its genome that encode proteins from the TTT (Tripartite Tricarboxylate Transporters) family, a family of bacterial transporters capable of capturing the substrate with high affinity. Little is known about the influence of this family of proteins on the ability of this pathogen to colonise and survive in the host. Among these genes, BP3756 is located in a region potentially involved in glutamate and glutathione metabolism. In view of the central role of glutamate as a carbon source in this organism, and the known role of glutathione in mitigating oxidative stress, the project aims to understand the role of the BP3756 gene in the central metabolism and pathogenicity of Bordetella pertussis.