Structural Biology of immunoglobulin cleaving peptidases

Antibodies are essential components of the immune system, playing a central role in recognizing and neutralizing pathogens. In response, many bacterial species have evolved specialized enzymes that target and cleave these antibodies, enabling immune evasion and enhancing their ability to establish infection. Studying such enzymes is critical for understanding microbial pathogenesis, informing drug discovery, and developing new biomedical and biotechnological tools. We are currently investigating a large, multidomain zinc-dependent metallopeptidase that contains several accessory domains and exhibits high specificity toward immunoglobulins. Our research focuses on elucidating its antibody- recognition mechanism using a combination of structural biology techniques, including X- ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and cryo-EM.