Structural and functional determination of homologs of the -acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase (NagA).

The () pathogen encodes a GlcNAc-6-phosphate deacetylase enzyme, NagA (Rv3332), that belongs to the amidohydrolase superfamily. NagA enzymes catalyze the deacetylation of GlcNAc-6-phosphate (GlcNAc6P) to glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN6P). NagA is a potential antitubercular drug target because it represents the key enzymatic step in the generation of essential amino-sugar precursors required for cell wall biosynthesis and also influences recycling of cell wall peptidoglycan fragments.