The Emerging Role of Urease as a General Microbial Virulence Factor

Abstract

Urea is generated in humans following the breakdown of amino acids and is evenly distributed throughout the body, including in the central nervous system, subcutaneous adipose tissue, blood serum, and epithelial lining fluid Various pathogenic microbes are able to utilise urea as a nitrogen source through the activity of the enzyme urease that converts urea into ammonia and carbamic acid, with the spontaneous hydrolysis of carbamic acid to carbonic acid generating a further ammonia molecule.