Deoxy sugars metabolic pathways

L-Rhamnose isomerase catalyzes the interconversion of L-rhamnose and L-rhamnulose. L-Rhamnose, a deoxy sugar, is found in bacteria and plants and it plays an essential role in many pathogenic bacteria. The pathway for the metabolism of this sugar does not exist in humans, and this makes enzymes of this pathway attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. " Rhamnose isomerase from E. coli is a tetramer of (/ /a)8-barrels similar to xylose... 

Some early attempts at metabolic oligosaccharide engineering using haloge-nated and deoxy sugars resulted in cell death. In retrospect, we now know that some of these compounds are inhibitory of intracellular biosynthetic pathways [37,38], However, the toxicity of halogenated and deoxy sugars could possibly be exploited therapeutically for antiviral, antibacterial, or anticancer therapy. Examples are presented in detail later in this chapter. 

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