Biosynthesis of uridine diphosphate N‐Acetylglucosamine: An underexploited pathway in the search for novel antibiotics?

Although the prevalence of antibiotic resistance is increasing at an alarming rate, there are a dwindling number of effective antibiotics available. Thus, the development of novel antibacterial agents should be of utmost importance. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis has been and is still an attractive source for antibiotic targets; however, there are several components that remain underexploited. In this review, we examine the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of one such component, UDP‐N‐acetylglucosamine, an essential building block and precursor of bacterial peptidoglycan. Furthermore, given the presence of a similar biosynthesis pathway in eukaryotes, we discuss the current knowledge on the differences and similarities between the bacterial and eukaryotic enzymes. Finally, this review also summarises the recent advances made in the development of inhibitors targeting the bacterial enzymes.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  IUBMB Life - A Journal of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Publication date

  2022-07-26

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Chemistry

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/iub.2664PMID 35880704PMCID 10087520
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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