Figure 1.
Schema of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP). The amino sugar UDP-GlcNAc is generated in the HBP by combining fructose-6-phosphate, glutamine, nucleotides, and acetyl-CoA. More detailed description of the sequential enzyme reactions in the pathway is provided in the text. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) uses UDP-GlcNAc to transfer O-GlcNAc moieties onto target proteins that can be recognized by RL2 antibodies and removed by O-GlcNAse (OGA). OGT and OGA inhibitors mentioned in the text are shown in the yellow boxes.