Making routers last longer with ViAggre

Abstract

Elucidating the molecular and biochemical details of bacterial infections can be challenging because of the many complex interactions that exist between a pathogen and its host. Consequently, many tools have been developed to aid the study of bacterial pathogenesis. Small molecules are a valuable complement to traditional genetic techniques because they can be used to rapidly perturb genetically intractable systems and to monitor post-translationally regulated processes. Activity-based probes are a subset of small molecules that covalently label an enzyme of interest based on its catalytic mechanism. These tools allow monitoring of enzyme activation within the context of a native biological system and can be used to dissect the biochemical details of enzyme function. This review describes the development and application of activity-based probes for examining aspects of bacterial infection on both sides of the host-pathogen interface.