# Catabolism of peptides and amino acids by S. aureus

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $381,250

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The goal of project #2 of this PPG is to investigate the hypothesis that Staphylococcus aureus must fine-tune its
central metabolism for rapid adaptation to different carbon and nitrogen sources available within a given tissue
microenvironment. S. aureus has the ability to colonize or cause infection in a multitude of organ systems in the
human host and therefore must adapt to changing carbon and nitrogen sources within each niche. We have
focused our studies on a staphylococcal abscess, which is glucose depleted, and how S. aureus persists with
secondary carbon sources such as amino acids and peptides as the major carbon source. Based on our previous
data, a model has been developed predicting that S. aureus cleaves specific host proteins facilitating transport
of peptides through oligopeptides transporters (Opp-3). Preliminary studies document that peptide transport
induces protease transcription linking these two fundamental processes. Lastly, we have documented the amino
acid catabolic pathways that are critical for growth when S. aureus is growing on amino acids as the sole carbon
source. The proposed aims build upon our developing model and 1) determine the function and receptor kinetics
of the four S. aureus proline transporters and relevance of proline transport in mouse models of infection; 2)
Investigate the relationship between peptide transport and induction of protease transcription; and 3) Interrogate
the importance of pyruvate generating amino acid catabolism and subsequent acetate generation during growth
in media lacking glucose.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10198698
- **Project number:** 5P01AI083211-13
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** PAUL D FEY
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $381,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2009-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10198698

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10198698, Catabolism of peptides and amino acids by S. aureus (5P01AI083211-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10198698. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*