Comparative structural and mechanistic studies of 4-hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate reductases from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Vibrio vulnificus.

Background: The products of the lysine biosynthesis pathway, meso-diaminopimelate and lysine, are essential for bacterial survival. This paper focuses on the structural and mechanistic characterization of 4-hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate reductase (DapB), which is one of the enzymes from the lysine biosynthesis pathway. DapB catalyzes the conversion of (2S, 4S)-4-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydrodipicolinate (HTPA) to 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrodipicolinate in an NADH/NADPH dependent reaction.

Structure of dihydrodipicolinate synthase from the commensal bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron at 2.1 Å resolution.

Dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DapA) catalyzes the first committed step of the diaminopimelate biosynthetic pathway of lysine. It has been shown to be an essential enzyme in many bacteria and has been the subject of research to generate novel antibiotics. However, this pathway is present in both pathogenic and commensal bacteria, and antibiotics targeting DapA may interfere with normal gut colonization.