Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 16, Issue 21, 2016

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the most potent known toxins, cause severe muscle paralysis and death at nanogram exposures and are considered biothreat agents. BoNTs target the neuromuscular junction where they release smaller zinc metalloprotease light chains (LCs) into the neuron cytosol that selectively cleave SNARE proteins and thus block the exocytosis of acetylcholine neurotransmitters necessary for sk Read More

Bacillus anthracis, a rod shaped, spore forming, gram positive bacteria, is the etiological agent of anthrax. B. anthracis virulence is partly attributable to two secreted bipartite protein toxins, which act inside host cells to disrupt signaling pathways important for host defense against infection. These toxins may also directly contribute to mortality in late stage infection. The zinc-dependent metalloproteinase anthrax let Read More

Among the crowd of bacteria provoking disease of the oral cavity during the weakened of immune system, Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis are the main microorganisms implicated in caries formation and periodontitis, respectively. The life cycle of the pathogens, such as protozoa, fungi and bacteria, is influenced by a superfamily of enzymes, called carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1 Read More

Bacterial infections constitute an always growing health problem worldwide. The resistance to antibiotics of an increasing number of bacterial pathogens necessitates a permanent search for new molecules with different mechanisms of action. Histidine biosynthesis is an ancient pathway found in bacteria, archaebacteria, fungi and plants but absent in mammals. This feature makes it very interesting for the study of new st Read More

The bacterial enzyme UDP-3-O-[(R)-3-hydroxymyristoyl]-N-acetylglucosamine deacetylase (LpxC), catalyzing the first committed step of lipid A biosynthesis, represents a promising target in the development of novel antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria. Structure, catalytic reaction mechanism and regulation of the Zn2+-dependent metalloamidase have been intensively investigated. The enzyme is required for grow Read More