As previously announced, President Eric Barron
plans to retire once his contract expires in June 2022. Now, the board has formed a task force to spearhead efforts to find Penn State’s next president.
To get started, the Board of Trustees’ Presidential Recruitment and Selection Committee launched a new initiative, titled “Next Gen Penn State,” to guide its efforts and receive feedback and input from the community throughout the university’s search.
“The Next Gen Penn State initiative is a ‘listening phase’ of our process within which stakeholders from varying backgrounds and perspectives will be charged with actively soliciting input from all areas of our community to help inform the selection of Penn State’s next president,” Board of Trustees Chair Matt Schuyler said. “This is a critical step in the overall presidential search process, and it is an indispensable opportunity for community members to be involved. We are asking our community to help inform the
Study improves understanding of the chemistry behind potent antibiotic synthesis
Images of a protein involved in creating a potent antibiotic reveal the unusual first steps of the antibiotic s synthesis. The improved understanding of the chemistry behind this process, detailed in a new study led by Penn State chemists, could allow researchers to adapt this and similar compounds for use in human medicine.
The antibiotic thiostrepton is very potent against Gram-positive pathogens and can even target certain breast cancer cells in culture. While it has been used topically in veterinary medicine, so far it has been ineffective in humans because it is poorly absorbed. We studied the first steps in thiostrepton s biosynthesis in hopes of eventually being able to hijack certain processes and make analogs of the molecule that might have better medicinal properties. Importantly, this reaction is found in the biosynthesis of numerous other antibiotics, and so the work has the potential to be
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IMAGE: The synthesis of the potent antibiotic thiostrepton uses a radical SAM protein TsrM, whose crystal structure is shown at left while bound to an iron-sulfur cluster and cobalamin. New images. view more
Credit: Booker Lab, Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Images of a protein involved in creating a potent antibiotic reveal the unusual first steps of the antibiotic s synthesis. The improved understanding of the chemistry behind this process, detailed in a new study led by Penn State chemists, could allow researchers to adapt this and similar compounds for use in human medicine. The antibiotic thiostrepton is very potent against Gram-positive pathogens and can even target certain breast cancer cells in culture, said Squire Booker, a biochemist at Penn State and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. While it has been used topically in veterinary medicine, so far it has been ineffective in humans because it is poorly absorbed. We studied