ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Undecaprenyl-diphosphatase

Undecaprenyl-diphosphatase is a big word that describes a tiny tool that helps cells stay healthy. Imagine that our bodies are made up of lots and lots of little houses called cells. Inside each of these little houses, there are lots of different parts, kind of like a car has wheels and an engine and seats and a steering wheel.

One of the parts inside the cell is a structure called the cell wall, which is like a barrier that protects the inside of the cell from things on the outside. Just like how you have a skin that protects your body from germs and other bad things, the cell wall helps keep the cell safe and healthy.

To make the cell wall, the cell uses special tools called enzymes. Think of these enzymes like little machines that help put all the pieces of the cell wall together. One of the enzymes that help make the cell wall is called undecaprenyl-diphosphatase.

Undecaprenyl-diphosphatase is important because it helps make a special molecule that the cell wall needs to be strong and sturdy. This molecule is called undecaprenyl phosphate, and it's like the glue that holds all the pieces of the cell wall together.

So, if the cell didn't have undecaprenyl-diphosphatase, it wouldn't be able to make enough undecaprenyl phosphate, which would make the cell wall weak and easy for bad things to get inside the cell and make it sick.

In summary, undecaprenyl-diphosphatase is a tiny but important tool that helps cells make a molecule called undecaprenyl phosphate. Undecaprenyl phosphate is like glue that makes the cell wall strong and keeps the cell safe and healthy.