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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2001, p. 1053-1057, Vol. 45, No. 4
Pharma Research Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche
Ltd., CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland
Received 10 August 2000/Returned for modification 5 October
2000/Accepted 20 December 2000
An assay was developed to determine the activity of peptide
deformylase (PDF) inhibitors under conditions as close as possible to
the physiological situation. The assay principle is the detection of
N-terminal [35S]methionine labeling of a protein that
contains no internal methionine. If PDF is active, the deformylation of
the methionine renders the peptide a substrate for methionine
aminopeptidase, resulting in the removal of the N-terminal
methionine label. In the presence of a PDF inhibitor, the deformylation
is blocked so that the N-formylated peptide is not processed and the
label is detected. Using this assay, it is possible to determine the
PDF activity under near-physiological conditions in a cell-free
transcription-translation system as well as in intact bacterial cells.
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.4.1053-1057.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Peptide Deformylase as an Antibacterial Drug
Target: Assays for Detection of Its Inhibition in Escherichia
coli Cell Homogenates and Intact Cells

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: F. Hoffmann-La
Roche Ltd., PRBM-H, Bldg. 69/11A, CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: 41 61 688 5878. Fax: 41 61 688 2377. E-mail:
christian.apfel{at}roche.com.
Present address: Morphochem AG, Basel, Switzerland.
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