Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

First Advisor

David Evans

Abstract

There are many enzymes required for efficient and proper pyrimidine biosynthesis. The two that are most important and were discussed in this thesis are aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) and dihydroorotase (DHOase). Both play an important role in not only pyrimidine biosynthesis production, but also mechanistic regulation of de novo synthesis. Anthrax is an infection caused by Bacillus anthracis. Here we studied ATCase and DHOase in Bacillus Anthracis. In this thesis we understood the effects of the enzymes ATCase and DHOase on pyrimidine biosynthesis. Adequate inhibitors of these enzymes would result in cell death and could pose as a cure to infection by Bacillus Anthracis or anthrax. This research showed the effects of inhibitors on the thermal stability, binding ability, and activity of the two enzymes alone. Specifically, we saw that ATCase and DHOase do not form a complex. Nucleotides had little regulatory properties on ATCase or DHOase. The biochemical and structural aspects given by these enzymes is important to human health and will lead to a better understanding of diseases such as bacteremia and anthrax.

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