Departamentos Microbiología and Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Manuel Carpio, Plutarco Elías Calles, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11350, Mexico
Claudia Guerrero-Barajas
Departamento de Bioprocesos, Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Acueducto, La Laguna Ticoman, Gustavo A. Madero, Ciudad de México 07340, Mexico
Gabriel Betanzos-Cabrera
Área Académica de Nutrición y Medicina, Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Actopan Camino a Tilcuautla s/n, Pueblo San Juan Tilcuautla, Pachuca Hidalgo 42160, Mexico
Juan C. Cancino-Diaz
Departamentos Microbiología and Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Manuel Carpio, Plutarco Elías Calles, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México 11350, Mexico
In addition to comprising monomers of nucleic acids, nucleotides have signaling functions and act as second messengers in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The most common example is cyclic AMP (cAMP). Nucleotide signaling is a focus of great interest in bacteria. Cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), cAMP, and cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) participate in biological events such as bacterial growth, biofilm formation, sporulation, cell differentiation, motility, and virulence. Moreover, the cyclic-di-nucleotides (c-di-nucleotides) produced in pathogenic intracellular bacteria can affect eukaryotic host cells to allow for infection. On the other hand, non-cyclic nucleotide molecules pppGpp and ppGpp are alarmones involved in regulating the bacterial response to nutritional stress; they are also considered second messengers. These second messengers can potentially be used as therapeutic agents because of their immunological functions on eukaryotic cells. In this review, the role of c-di-nucleotides and cAMP as second messengers in different bacterial processes is addressed.
