Perspectives in Medicinal Chemistry

Owing to the persistence of tuberculosis (TB) as well as the emergence of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) forms of the disease, the development of new antitubercular drugs is crucial. Developing inhibitors of shikimate kinase (SK) in the shikimate pathway will provide a selective target for antitubercular agents. Many studies have used in silico technology to identify compounds that are anticipated to interact with and inhibit SK. To a much more limited extent, SK inhibition has been evaluated by in vitro methods with purified enzyme. Currently, there are no data on in vivo activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis shikimate kinase (MtSK) inhibitors available in the literature. In this review, we present a summary of the progress of SK inhibitor discovery and evaluation with particular attention toward development of new antitubercular agents.