Bacterial sphingomyelinases and phospholipases are a heterogeneous group of esterases which are usually surface associated or secreted by a wide variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. These enzymes hydrolyze sphingomyelin and glycerophospholipids, respectively, generating products identical to the ones produced by eukaryotic enzymes which play crucial roles in distinct physiological processes, including membrane dynamics, cellular signaling, migration, growth, and death. Several bacterial sphingomyelinases and phospholipases are essential for virulence of extracellular, facultative, or obligate intracellular pathogens, as these enzymes contribute to phagosomal escape or phagosomal maturation avoidance, favoring tissue colonization, infection establishment and progression, or immune response evasion. This work presents a classification proposal for bacterial sphingomyelinases and phospholipases that considers not only their enzymatic activities but also their structural aspects. An overview of the main physiopathological activities is provided for each enzyme type, as are examples in which inactivation of a sphingomyelinase- or a phospholipase-encoding gene impairs the virulence of a pathogen. The identification of sphingomyelinases and phospholipases important for bacterial pathogenesis and the development of inhibitors for these enzymes could generate candidate vaccines and therapeutic agents, which will diminish the impacts of the associated human and animal diseases.

中文翻译：

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细菌鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶作为致病因子。

细菌鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶是酯酶的异质基团，通常与多种革兰氏阳性和革兰氏阴性细菌表面缔合或分泌。这些酶分别水解鞘磷脂和甘油磷脂，产生的产物与真核酶产生的产物相同，这些产物在不同的生理过程中起着至关重要的作用，包括膜动力学，细胞信号传导，迁移，生长和死亡。几种细菌鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶对于胞外，兼性或专性细胞内病原体的毒力至关重要，因为这些酶有助于吞噬体逃逸或避免吞噬体成熟，有助于组织定植，感染的建立和发展或免疫应答逃避。这项工作提出了细菌鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶的分类建议，不仅要考虑其酶促活性，还要考虑其结构方面。提供了每种酶类型的主要生理病理活性的概述，例如鞘磷脂酶或磷脂酶编码基因失活会损害病原体毒力的例子。鉴定对于细菌发病机理重要的鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶以及开发这些酶的抑制剂可以产生候选疫苗和治疗剂，这将减轻相关的人类和动物疾病的影响。提供了每种酶类型的主要生理病理活性的概述，例如鞘磷脂酶或磷脂酶编码基因失活会损害病原体毒力的例子。鉴定对于细菌发病机理重要的鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶以及开发这些酶的抑制剂可以产生候选疫苗和治疗剂，这将减轻相关的人类和动物疾病的影响。提供了每种酶类型的主要生理病理活性的概述，例如鞘磷脂酶或磷脂酶编码基因失活会损害病原体毒力的例子。鉴定对于细菌发病机理重要的鞘磷脂酶和磷脂酶以及开发这些酶的抑制剂可以产生候选疫苗和治疗剂，这将减轻相关的人类和动物疾病的影响。