epidermidis 1457 were taken every two hours from 2-12 hours of growth. These data demonstrated that Serp1129 was expressed at low levels at 2 hours and increased to the maximum level at 4 and 6 hours, and began to decrease at 8 hours with no Serp1129

being detected at the 10 or 12 hour time point (Figure 7). These data demonstrate that serp1129 transcript was translated, and that Serp1129 was only expressed in the exponential phase of growth as predicted by the previous northern blot analyses. Figure 7 Western blot analysis to demonstrate Serp1129 expression. Western blot analysis showing the expression of Serp1129 from 2 to 12 hours of growth. Number above each lane represents the hour (growth) at which the protein sample was collected. The arrow on the left of the figure notes the expression of the 30.8 kDa native Serp1129 throughout growth of S. epidermidis 1457. The “”+”" lane is the positive control containing Y-27632 cell line the 35.6 kDa recombinant His- tagged Serp1129 protein and is denoted by an arrow on the right. Serp1129 is an ATP/GTP Binding protein The potential functional role of Serp1129 in S. epidermidis selleck chemicals was further investigated as bioinformatic analyses indicated that Serp1129

shared 54% amino acid identity with B. thuringiensis ATCC 35646 RBTH_03589, a protein annotated as having an ATP/GTP binding motif. Recombinant Serp1129 was Dasatinib tested for the ability to bind ATP or GTP, and found both nucleotide analogs were able to bind Serp1129 (data not shown). Adding 5, 10, 20, and 30 μM of unlabeled ATP Carbohydrate to the reaction mixture evaluated the specificity of ATP binding to recombinant Serp1129. The addition of 5 μM unlabeled ATP decreased the binding of labeled ATP to Serp1129, while no band was detected when 10 μM unlabeled ATP was added (Figure 8A). These data suggest that the unlabeled ATP was able to compete for the same binding

site within Serp1129. A similar pattern was observed when GTP binding reactions were performed, however, less GTP was bound by Serp1129 as compared to ATP. A Coomassie Blue stained gel was loaded with an equivalent amount of protein used in the experiment and is shown as a loading control (Figure 8B). These results indicate that Serp1129 has an ability to bind both ATP and GTP but has a higher affinity for ATP. Figure 8 ATP and GTP Competition Assays for Serp1129. (A) ATP and GTP binding assay. The lane marked “”0″” indicates that no unlabeled ATP or GTP was added to the reaction and increasing levels (5, 10, 20, and 30 μM) of unlabeled ATP or GTP are indicated by the triangle above the appropriate lanes. The lanes marked as “”-”" are the negative control containing CidA [38], which does not bind ATP or GTP. B. SDS-PAGE loaded with the same protein concentration of Serp1129 as in Figure 6A and stained with Coomassie Blue; shown as a loading control. Discussion S. epidermidis is a component of the normal skin flora of humans and yet is a significant cause of catheter and other biomaterial-related infections.