Rapid countermeasure discovery against Francisella tularensis based on a metabolic network reconstruction.

ABSTRACT: In the future, we may be faced with the need to provide treatment for an emergent biological threat against which existing vaccines and drugs have limited efficacy or availability. To prepare for this eventuality, our objective was to use a metabolic network-based approach to rapidly identify potential drug targets and prospectively screen and validate novel small-molecule antimicrobials. Our target organism was the fully virulent Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis Schu S4 strain, a highly infectious intracellular pathogen that is the causative agent of tularemia and is classified as a category A biological agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We proceeded with a staggered computational and experimental workflow that used a strain-specific metabolic network mo

SUBMITTER: Chaudhury S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3660459 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature