BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Targeting TMP

New ways to target bacterial DNA synthesis

March 3, 2016 8:00 AM UTC

In a study in Science, chemists at the University of Iowa reported that they have worked out the major steps in a bacteria-specific pathway for synthesizing the nucleotide TMP, opening new possibilities for antibiotics that are both non-toxic and can overcome resistance to marketed inhibitors of DNA synthesis.

Antibiotics designed to selectively block DNA synthesis typically target enzymes involved in making thymidine monophosphate (TMP) - also known as thymidylate, a nucleotide that gets incorporated into DNA but not RNA. ...