Thymidine diphosphate glucose (often abbreviated dTDP-glucose or TDP-glucose) is a nucleotide-linked sugar consisting of deoxythymidine diphosphate

Thymidine diphosphate

Thymidine diphosphate, abbreviated dTDP, is a nucleoside diphosphate. It is an ester of pyrophosphoric acid with the nucleoside thymidine. dTDP consists of the pyrophosphate group, the pentose sugar ribose, and the nucleobase thymine...

 linked to glucose

Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...

. It is the starting compound for the syntheses of many deoxysugars.

Biosynthesis

DTDP-glucose is produced by the enzyme glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase

Glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase

In enzymology, a glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionThus, the two substrates of this enzyme are dTTP and alpha-D-glucose 1-phosphate, whereas its two products are pyrophosphate and dTDP-glucose....

 and is synthesized from dTTP and glucose-1-phosphate

Glucose-1-phosphate

Glucose 1-phosphate is a glucose molecule with a phosphate group on the 1'-carbon.-Catabolic:In glycogenolysis, it is the direct product of the reaction in which glycogen phosphorylase cleaves off a molecule of glucose from a greater glycogen structure.To be utilized in cellular catabolism it must...

. Pyrophosphate

Pyrophosphate

In chemistry, the anion, the salts, and the esters of pyrophosphoric acid are called pyrophosphates. Any salt or ester containing two phosphate groups is called a diphosphate. As a food additive, diphosphates are known as E450.- Chemistry :...

 is a byproduct of the reaction.

Uses within the cell

DTDP-glucose goes on to form a variety of compounds in nucleotide sugars metabolism

Nucleotide sugars metabolism

In nucleotide sugar metabolism a group of biochemicals known as nucleotide sugars act as donors for sugar residues in the glycosylation reactions that produce polysaccharides. They are substrates for glycosyltransferases. The nucleotide sugars are also intermediates in nucleotide sugar...

. Many bacteria utilize dTDP-glucose to form exotic sugars that are incorporated into their lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharides , also known as lipoglycans, are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide joined by a covalent bond; they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, act as endotoxins and elicit strong immune responses in animals.-Functions:LPS is the major...

s or into secondary metabolites such as antibiotics. During the syntheses of many of these exotic sugars, dTDP-glucose undergoes a combined oxidation/reduction reaction via the enzyme dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase

DTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase

In enzymology, a dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionHence, this enzyme has one substrate, dTDP-glucose, and two products, dTDP-4-dehydro-6-deoxy-D-glucose and H2O....

, producing dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-glucose.