Lipid metabolism and intracellular bacterial virulence: key to next-generation therapeutics

Abstract

Lipid metabolism is thought to play a key role in the pathogenicity of several intracellular bacteria. Bacterial lipolytic enzymes hydrolyze lipids from the host cell to release free fatty acids which are used as an energy source and building blocks for the synthesis of cell envelope and also to modulate host immune responses. In this review, we discussed the role of lipid metabolism and lipolytic enzymes in the life cycle and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other intracellular bacteria. The lipolytic enzymes appear to be potential candidates for developing novel therapeutics by targeting lipid metabolism for controlling M. tuberculosis and other intracellular pathogenic bacteria. [Formula: see text].

Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; host lipids; intracellular bacteria; lipid rafts; lipolytic enzymes; pathogenicity; therapeutic targets; virulence.