Pathogen cell wall components

Pathogen cell wall components are essential structural polymers, such as peptidoglycan in bacteria and beta-glucans or chitin in fungi, that maintain cellular integrity and protect against osmotic lysis (StatPearls, 2023). These structures are unique to microbes and are absent in mammalian cells, making them primary targets for selective antimicrobial therapy (NIH, 2022). In bacteria, the cell wall is synthesized through a complex process involving transpeptidases (penicillin-binding proteins), which are the targets of beta-lactam antibiotics like Penicillin and Cephalosporins (Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2018). Fungal cell wall synthesis is targeted by echinocandins, which inhibit the synthesis of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan (Journal of Fungi, 2021). Beyond their structural role, these components serve as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are recognized by host pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptors, to initiate the innate immune response (Frontiers in Immunology, 2020). Resistance to drugs targeting these components is a major clinical challenge, often involving modifications to the target enzymes or the cell wall precursors themselves (WHO, 2021).

Other names

Microbial cell wallBacterial cell wallFungal cell wallPeptidoglycan layerCell wall constituents

Inhibition of cell wall synthesis and assembly