Metabolic mechanisms of nutrients transport and energy synthesis of Treponema pallidum

Abstract:

Treponema pallidum is the pathogen of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis that seriously endangers the physical and mental health of humans, and it is still difficult to achieve artificial culture in vitro. A longstanding conundrum in Treponema pallidum biology concerns how the spirochete generates sufficient energy to fulfill its complex pathogenesis processes during human syphilitic infection. This article describes the metabolic mechanisms of Treponema pallidum, such as nutrients transport, glycolysis pathways, and metabolite detours, in order to arouse the attention of researchers and further explore the physiological and metabolic functions of Treponema pallidum that are not yet understood, and break the bottleneck of Treponema pallidum in vitro artificial culture. To clarify the possible pathogenic mechanism of Treponema pallidum, to find new clinical treatment targets to provide reference.

Key words:Treponema pallidum;glycolysis pathway;ATP synthesis;NAD⁺;pyruvate