Targeting DXP synthase in bacterial metabolism

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There is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobial strategies to combat the increasing occurrence of drug resistance in clinical pathogens. Current antibiotics act on a limited set of cellular processes, and the rate of new inhibitor discovery is rapidly declining. With the diminishing arsenal of useful antibiotics, other essential cellular processes must be explored as antibacterial targets. During infection, bacterial pathogens rapidly respond to changes in the host microenvironment by remodeling metabolism to promote growth. These “metabolic adaptations” are crucial for pathogen survival and pathogenicity in vivo and are thus a promising target space for antibiotic development. Positioned at a metabolic branch point to supply essential vitamins and isoprenoids, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXPS) is poised to be a key player in bacterial metabolic adaptation during infection, thus it is a potential target. We have uncovered several unique features of DXPS structure and mechanism that have guided the development of selective inhibitors that exert antibacterial activity by a mechanism involving DXPS inhibition. Our research will test the hypothesis that inhibition of DXPS will severely hinder pathogen metabolic adaptation in the host and take the next steps to develop antibacterial strategies targeting DXPS in clinical pathogens.