Frontiers in Chemistry (Nov 2021)

Lipoic Acid Metabolism as a Potential Chemotherapeutic Target Against Plasmodium falciparum and Staphylococcus aureus

  • Sun Liu Rei Yan,
  • Felipe Wakasuqui,
  • Xiaochen Du,
  • Matthew R. Groves,
  • Carsten Wrenger

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.742175
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Lipoic acid (LA) is an organic compound that plays a key role in cellular metabolism. It participates in a posttranslational modification (PTM) named lipoylation, an event that is highly conserved and that occurs in multimeric metabolic enzymes of very distinct microorganisms such as Plasmodium sp. and Staphylococcus aureus, including pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (KDH). In this mini review, we revisit the recent literature regarding LA metabolism in Plasmodium sp. and Staphylococcus aureus, by covering the lipoate ligase proteins in both microorganisms, the role of lipoate ligase proteins and insights for possible inhibitors of lipoate ligases.

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