Characterization of PCEng2, a {beta}-1,3-endoglucanase homolog in Pneumocystis carinii with activity in cell wall regulation.

ABSTRACT: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia is an opportunistic fungal infection that causes severe respiratory impairment in immunocompromised patients. The viability of Pneumocystis organisms is dependent on the cyst cell wall, a structural feature that is regulated by essential cell wall-associated enzymes. The formation of the glucan-rich cystic wall has been previously characterized, but glucan degradation in the organism-specifically, degradation during trophic excystment-is not yet fully understood. Most studies of basic Pneumocystis biology have been conducted in Pneumocystis carinii or Pneumocystis murina, the varieties of this genus that infect rats and mice, respectively. Furthermore, all known treatments for P. jirovecii were initially discovered through studies of P. carinii. Accordingly

SUBMITTER: Villegas LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2937232 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature