D-Glucosamine-6-phosphate (D-GlcN-6-P) is a monosaccharide intermediate of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.1 It is formed from D-fructose-6-phosphate by glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (GlmS) in the presence of glutamine or from D-glucosamine by N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) kinase.2,3,4 D-GlcN-6-P binds the GlmS riboswitch (Ki = 380 µM), a ribozyme located in the 5'-UTR of the gene encoding GlmS that, when bound by D-GlcN-6-P, inhibits GlmS production and decreases D-GlcN-6-P levels.2,5 It is a precursor in the biosynthesis of uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), a substrate for protein glycosylation and a component of bacterial cell walls.4,6
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