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Units : Structure and Function of Biological Membranes | ULB167
Discovery of new drugs is a process in which bioinformatics tools play nowadays an important role. - D-alanine:D-alanine ligase : The emergence of bacterial strains that are resistant to all antibiotics in current clinical use has created an urgent need for the discovery of new agents directed against unexploited bacterial targets. The D-alanine:D-alanine (D-Ala:D-Ala) ligase catalyses the dimerization of D-Alanine before its incorporation in the bacterial cell wall. This enzyme may therefore constitute a useful target since its inactivation prevents bacterial growth. - Myeloperoxidase: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is one of the major enzymes of the antimicrobial system of mammalian neutrophils. An uncontrolled production of hypochlorous acid, product of a reaction catalysed by MPO, is likely to be produced under certain conditions leading to a situation known as ''oxidative stress''. A large number of pathological processes are initiated or increased in this manner (chronic inflammatory disease). It would thus be interesting to design molecules capable of inhibiting MPO.