Journal
TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES
Volume 28, Issue 5, Pages 234-237Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/S0968-0004(03)00061-6
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Cleavage of peptidoglycan plays an important role in bacterial cell division, cell growth and cell lysis. Here, we reveal that several known peptidoglycan amidases fall into a family, which includes many proteins of previously unknown function. The family includes two different peptidoglycan cleavage activities: L-Muramoyl-L-alanine amidase and D-alanyl-glycyl endopeptidase activity. The family includes the amidase portion of the bifunctional glutathionylspermidine synthase/amidase enzyme from bacteria and pathogenic trypanosomes. The glutathionyispermidine synthase is thought to be a key component of the alternative pathway in trypanosomes for protection from oxygen-radical damage and has been proposed as a potential drug target. The CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolases/peptidases) domain is often found in association with other domains that cleave peptidoglycan. The large number of multifunctional hydrolases suggests that they might act in a cooperative manner to cleave specialized substrates.
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