# MOLECULAR BASIS OF PILUS-MEDIATED GONOCOCCAL ADHESION

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $233,250

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) is a growing public health problem which is likely to worsen due to increasing
antibiotic resitance and the lack of a vaccine. Type IV pili (Tfp) are known to be essential for GC virulence in
humans, and there is strong evidence that Tfp bind to high-affinity receptors on human cells. However, the
identities of both the specific GC protein(s) and host receptor(s) responsible for high-affinity adherence are not
known. Twenty years of pubished experiments strongly support the hypothesis that the low-abundance protein
PilC is the high-affinity adhesin presented by GC Tfp. However, little is known about the overall structure of
PilC, the mechanisms through which it associates with Tfp, and the host receptors that it presumably engages.
In this project we will use in vivo genetic tests and in vitro biochemical analyses to test models of PilC
functional organization, and we will use the resulting information and reagents to begin the process of
identifying high-affinity receptors on human mucosal epithelial cells. The impacts of this project will include
clarifying the mechanisms of PilC association with pili, the mechanisms through which PilC influences pilus
biogenesis, and the mechanisms through which GC and the closely related pathogen N. meningitidis adhere to
human epithelial tissues to initiate infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10107545
- **Project number:** 1R21AI155991-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexey Jarrell Merz
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $233,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-03 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10107545

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10107545, MOLECULAR BASIS OF PILUS-MEDIATED GONOCOCCAL ADHESION (1R21AI155991-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10107545. Licensed CC0.

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