Open AccessTranslation of peptidoglycan metabolites into immunotherapeutics
Author(s) -
Griffin Matthew E,
Hespen Charles W,
Wang YenChih,
Hang Howard C
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical and translational immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.321
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2050-0068
DOI - 10.1002/cti2.1095
Subject(s) - peptidoglycan , translation (biology) , chemistry , biology , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , cell wall , gene , messenger rna
The discovery of defined peptidoglycan metabolites that activate host immunity and their specific receptors has revealed fundamental insights into host–microbe recognition and afforded new opportunities for therapeutic development against infection and cancer. In this review, we summarise the discovery of two key peptidoglycan metabolites, γ‐ d ‐glutamyl‐ meso ‐diaminopimelic acid (iE‐DAP) and muramyl dipeptide and their respective receptors, Nod1 and Nod2, and review progress towards translating these findings into therapeutic agents. Notably, synthetic derivatives of peptidoglycan metabolites have already yielded approved drugs for chemotherapy‐induced leukopenia and paediatric osteosarcoma; however, the broad effects of peptidoglycan metabolites on host immunity suggest additional translational opportunities for new therapeutics towards other cancers, microbial infections and inflammatory diseases.