Sandbox Reserved 1070

Introduction

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a respiratory infection still prevalent throughout the world. During the last decade, the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis has given rise to the need for the development of new antibiotics in order to combat the infection. In order to develop an efficacious antibiotic, the drug must be able to target a unique aspect of the bacteria, such as a protein, that is critical for its full virulence and survival. MgtC, an integral protein embedded in the extracellular membrane of M. tuberculosis, has recently been hypothesized as a novel drug target to resolve tuberculosis infections. The targeting of MgtC was a result of observing that upon deletion of the protein from M. tuberculosis, the bacteria are no longer able to survive.

Function

Based on its tertiary structure, this protein has been placed into a larger group of proteins known as the MgtC superfamily. The overall structure of MgtC is constituted by two domains: an N-terminal domain and a C-terminal domain. Each of these domains have striking similarities and differences with other MgtC-like proteins.

===N-terminal Domain===
The N-terminal domain of MgtC is highly-conserved between orthologues of the MgtC super family.  This domain   is largely hydrophobic and serves as the main component of MgtC that allows its embedment in the extracellular membrane.  While this domain is highly conserved amongst orthologues, a crystal structure is not yet available

Disease

Relevance

Structural highlights

This is a sample scene created with SAT to by Group, and another to make of the protein. You can make your own scenes on SAT starting from scratch or loading and editing one of these sample scenes.