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US 6,846,667 B1Granted
Virulence genes and proteins, and their use
AssigneeMicroscience Limited
InventorsHelen Rachel Crooke, Enda Elizabeth Clarke, Paul Howard Everest, Gordon Dougan, David William Holden, Jacqueline Elizabeth Shea, Robert Graham Feldman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is based on the identification of a series of virulence genes in E. coli K1, the products of which may be implicated in the pathogenicity of the organisms. The identification of the genes allows them, or their expressed products, to be used in a number of ways to treat infection.
Claims4
A method for screening a potential drug using a peptide, said method comprising:
- contacting the peptide with the potential drug, wherein the peptide has the ability to translocate a protein from the bacterial cytoplasm to the periplasm;
- and
- determining whether the potential drug inhibits the ability of the peptide to translocate a protein from the bacterial cytoplasm to the periplasm, wherein the peptide is encoded by a gene selected from the group consisting of tatA, tatB, tatC, and tatE, or the obtainable from a Gram-negative bacterium nucleotide or amino acid level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.