The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 12, 1997
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1994
Susan A Martinis, Newton, MA (US);
Jiansu Zhang, Cambridge, MA (US);
Paul R Schimmel, Cambridge, MA (US);
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
Isolated and/or recombinant nucleic acids encoding mycobacterial seryl-tRNA synthetase have been characterized. Recombinant DNA constructs and vectors having a sequence which encodes mycobacterial seryl-tRNA synthetase have been made, and can be used for the construction of tester strains as well as for the production of isolated and/or recombinant seryl-tRNA synthetases. These enzymes or portions thereof are useful in the biochemical separation of serine and quantification of serine or ATP, and for producing antibodies useful in the purification and study of the enzyme, for example. Host cells and methods useful for producing recombinant mycobacterial seryl-tRNA synthetases are described, as are tester strains, which are cells engineered to rely on the function of the tRNA synthetase encoded by an introduced cloned gene. Tester strains can be used to identify inhibitors of the essential tRNA synthetase enzyme encoded by the introduced cloned gene, and thus provide a means to assess the antimicrobial effect and specificity of the inhibitor without employing slow-growing, pathogenic strains of mycobacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.