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

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

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.742175

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.742175

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>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 <italic>Plasmodium sp.</italic> and <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic>, including pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and <italic>α</italic>-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (KDH). In this mini review, we revisit the recent literature regarding LA metabolism in <italic>Plasmodium sp.</italic> and <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic>, by covering the lipoate ligase proteins in both microorganisms, the role of lipoate ligase proteins and insights for possible inhibitors of lipoate ligases.</p>