The PASTA domain: a beta-lactam-binding domain
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Updated: Sep 19, 2026

The Use of a β-lactamase-based Conductimetric Biosensor Assay to Detect Biomolecular Interactions
Published on: February 1, 2018
Corin Yeats1, Robert D Finn, Alex Bateman
1The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK CB10 1SA. cay@sanger.ac.uk
Abstract:
The PASTA domain (for penicillin-binding protein and serine/threonine kinase associated domain) is found in the high molecular weight penicillin-binding proteins and eukaryotic-like serine/threonine kinases of a range of pathogens. We describe this previously uncharacterized domain and infer that it binds beta-lactam antibiotics and their peptidoglycan analogues. We postulate that PknB-like kinases are key regulators of cell-wall biosynthesis. The essential function of these enzymes suggests an additional pathway for the action of beta-lactam antibiotics.
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