title: Therapeutic potential of FtsZ inhibition: a patent perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Filamentous temperature sensitive mutant Z (FtsZ), an essential protein for bacterial cell division, has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for the development of efficacious antibacterial agents active against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant bacterial strains. Recently, FtsZ has garnered special attention in the antibacterial research field, which is evident by the amount of research papers and patents disclosed in the public domain. Because of the significance of FtsZ as a highly promising target for the development of novel antibacterial agents, it is timely to review the patents on this subject so far published to date.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review article covers the patent literature on FtsZ-targeting potential antibacterial agents up to November 2010, including their pharmacological findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since FtsZ is well preserved in various bacteria, the FtsZ-targeting agents would act as novel broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs in addition to their use against particular bacteria, especially drug-resistant strains. Based on the increasing interest and advancement in this field of research, it looks almost certain that a good number of clinical candidates targeting FtsZ will emerge in the near future.
authors.affiliation: State University of New York at Stony Brook, Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3400, USA.
authors.forename: Divya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Awasthi
authors.forename: Kunal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Iwao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ojima
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D001562:Benzimidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D044950:Flavanones / Q000494:pharmacology; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D010330:Patents as Topic; D043823:Taxoids / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001562:Benzimidazoles; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D044950:Flavanones; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; D043823:Taxoids; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases