scholarly journals MurF Inhibitors with Antibacterial Activity: Effect on Muropeptide Levels

2009 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 3240-3247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Z. Baum ◽  
Steven M. Crespo-Carbone ◽  
Barbara D. Foleno ◽  
Lee D. Simon ◽  
Jerome Guillemont ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT MurF catalyzes the last cytoplasmic step of bacterial cell wall synthesis and is essential for bacterial survival. Our previous studies used a pharmacophore model of a MurF inhibitor to identify additional inhibitors with improved properties. We now present the characterization of two such inhibitors, the diarylquinolines DQ1 and DQ2. DQ1 inhibited Escherichia coli MurF (50% inhibitory concentration, 24 μM) and had modest activity (MICs, 8 to 16 μg/ml) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-defective E. coli and wild-type E. coli rendered permeable with polymyxin B nonapeptide. DQ2 additionally displayed activity against gram-positive bacteria (MICs, 8 to 16 μg/ml), including methicillin (meticillin)-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates and vancomycin-susceptible and -resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium isolates. Treatment of LPS-defective E. coli cells with ≥2× MIC of DQ1 resulted in a 75-fold-greater accumulation of the MurF substrate compared to the control, a 70% decline in the amount of the MurF product, and eventual cell lysis, consistent with the inhibition of MurF within bacteria. DQ2 treatment of S. aureus resulted in similar effects on the MurF substrate and product quantities. At lower levels of DQ1 (≤1× MIC), the level of accumulation of the substrate was less pronounced (15-fold greater compared to the amount for the control). However, a 50% increase in the amount of the MurF product compared to the control was reproducibly observed, consistent with the possible upregulation of muropeptide biosynthesis upon partial inhibition of this pathway. The overexpression of cloned MurF appeared to partly alleviate the DQ1-mediated inhibition of muropeptide synthesis. The identification of MurF inhibitors such as DQ1 and DQ2 that disrupt cell wall biosynthesis suggests that MurF remains a viable target for an antibacterial agent.

2018 ◽  
Vol 200 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. MacCain ◽  
Suresh Kannan ◽  
Dannah Z. Jameel ◽  
Jerry M. Troutman ◽  
Kevin D. Young

ABSTRACTThe peptidoglycan exoskeleton shapes bacteria and protects them against osmotic forces, making its synthesis the target of many current antibiotics. Peptidoglycan precursors are attached to a lipid carrier and flipped from the cytoplasm into the periplasm to be incorporated into the cell wall. InEscherichia coli, this carrier is undecaprenyl phosphate (Und-P), which is synthesized as a diphosphate by the enzyme undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase (UppS).E. coliMG1655 exhibits wild-type morphology at all temperatures, but one of our laboratory strains (CS109) was highly aberrant when grown at 42°C. This strain contained mutations affecting the Und-P synthetic pathway genesuppS,ispH, andidi. Normal morphology was restored by overexpressinguppSor by replacing the mutant (uppS31) with the wild-type allele. Importantly, movinguppS31into MG1655 was lethal even at 30°C, indicating that the altered enzyme was highly deleterious, but growth was restored by adding the CS109 versions ofispHandidi. Purified UppSW31Rwas enzymatically defective at all temperatures, suggesting that it could not supply enough Und-P during rapid growth unless suppressor mutations were present. We conclude that cell wall synthesis is profoundly sensitive to changes in the pool of polyisoprenoids and that isoprenoid homeostasis exerts a particularly strong evolutionary pressure.IMPORTANCEBacterial morphology is determined primarily by the overall structure of the semirigid macromolecule peptidoglycan. Not only does peptidoglycan contribute to cell shape, but it also protects cells against lysis caused by excess osmotic pressure. Because it is critical for bacterial survival, it is no surprise that many antibiotics target peptidoglycan biosynthesis. However, important gaps remain in our understanding about how this process is affected by peptidoglycan precursor availability. Here, we report that a mutation altering the enzyme that synthesizes Und-P prevents cells from growing at high temperatures and that compensatory mutations in enzymes functioning upstream ofuppScan reverse this phenotype. The results highlight the importance of Und-P metabolism for maintaining normal cell wall synthesis and shape.


2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 627-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Berlanga ◽  
M.Teresa Montero ◽  
Jordi Hernández-Borrell ◽  
Miquel Viñas

1990 ◽  
Vol 272 (3) ◽  
pp. 805-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ramotar ◽  
B Boyd ◽  
G Tyrrell ◽  
J Gariepy ◽  
C Lingwood ◽  
...  

The cistron encoding the B subunit of Escherichia coli Shiga-like toxin I (SLT-I) was cloned under control of the tac promoter in the expression vector pKK223-3 and the SLT-I B subunit was expressed constitutively in a wild-type background and inducibly in a lacIq background. The B subunit was located in the periplasmic space, and less than 10% was found in the culture medium after 24 h incubation. Polymyxin B extracts contained as much as 160 micrograms of B subunit/ml of culture. B subunit was purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange chromatography followed by chromatofocusing. Cross-linking analysis of purified native B subunit showed that it exists as a pentamer. In gels containing 0.1% SDS the native protein dissociated into monomers. B subunit was found to have the same glycolipid-receptor-specificity as SLT-I holotoxin. Competitive binding studies showed that B subunit and holotoxin had the same affinity for the globotriosylceramide receptor. We conclude that this recombinant plasmid is a convenient source of large amounts of purified SLT-I B subunit, which could be used for biophysical and structural studies or as a natural toxoid.


2020 ◽  
Vol 840 ◽  
pp. 265-269
Author(s):  
Nurjanah Nurjanah ◽  
Endang Saepudin

Curcumin, a diarylheptanoids compound which isolated primary from Curcuma longa, exhibits a variety of exciting biological activities, including as an antibacterial agent. In the present study, a sulfanilamide-contained curcumin compound was synthesized and characterized to investigate the antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria S. aureus, B. subtilis and gram-negative bacteria E. coli. The characterization of the synthesized compound was determined by analysing peak absorbance, functional group, and molecular weight using mass spectroscopy, UV/Vis and FTIR spectrophotometry. Curcumin-sulfanilamide compound exhibited the best antibacterial activity against gram-negative bacteria compared to curcumin and the curcumin-derived compound containing isoxazole with inhibitory zone of 11 mm.


1990 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 538-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Friedberg ◽  
J. Seijffers

We present here the isolation and molecular characterization of acetolactate synthase (ALS) genes from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC7942 which specify a sulfonylurea-sensitive enzyme and from the sulfonylurea-resistant mutant SM3/20, which specify resistance to sulfonylurea herbicides. The ALS gene was cloned and mapped by complementation of an Escherichia coli ilv auxotroph that requires branched-chain amino acids for growth and lacks ALS activity. The cyanobacterial gene is efficiently expressed in this heterologous host. The ALS gene codes for 612 amino acids and shows high sequence homology (46%) at the amino acid level with ALS III of E. coli and with the tobacco ALS. The resistant phenotype is a consequence of proline to serine substitution in residue 115 of the deduced amino acid sequence. Functional expression of the mutant gene in wild-type Synechococcus and in E. coli confirmed that this amino-acid substitution is responsible for the resistance. Yet the deduced amino-acid sequence as compared with othjer ALS proteins supports the notion that the amino-acid context of the substitution is important for the resistance.


1999 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takaaki Akasaka ◽  
Yoshikuni Onodera ◽  
Mayumi Tanaka ◽  
Kenichi Sato

ABSTRACT The topoisomerase IV subunit A gene, parC homolog, has been cloned and sequenced from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, with cDNA encoding the N-terminal region of Escherichia coli parC used as a probe. The homolog and its upstream gene were presumed to be parC and parE through sequence homology with the parC and parE genes of other organisms. The deduced amino acid sequence of ParC and ParE showed 33 and 32% identity with that of the P. aeruginosa DNA gyrase subunits, GyrA and GyrB, respectively, and 69 and 75% identity with that of E. coli ParC and ParE, respectively. The putative ParC and ParE proteins were overexpressed and separately purified by use of a fusion system with a maltose-binding protein, and their enzymatic properties were examined. The reconstituted enzyme had ATP-dependent decatenation activity, which is the main catalytic activity of bacterial topoisomerase IV, and relaxing activities but had no supercoiling activity. So, the cloned genes were identified asP. aeruginosa topoisomerase IV genes. The inhibitory effects of quinolones on the activities of topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase were compared. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of quinolones for the decatenation activity of topoisomerase IV were from five to eight times higher than those for the supercoiling activities ofP. aeruginosa DNA gyrase. These results confirmed that topoisomerase IV is less sensitive to fluoroquinolones than is DNA gyrase and may be a secondary target of new quinolones in wild-typeP. aeruginosa.


1996 ◽  
Vol 314 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanneke L. H. BUSCH ◽  
Jacques L. J. BRETON ◽  
Barry M. BARTLETT ◽  
Richard JAMES ◽  
E. Claude HATCHIKIAN ◽  
...  

Desulfovibrio africanus ferredoxin III is a monomeric protein (molecular mass of 6585 Da) that contains one [3Fe-4S]1+/0 and one [4Fe-4S]2+/1+ cluster when isolated aerobically. The amino acid sequence consists of 61 amino acids, including seven cysteine residues that are all involved in co-ordination to the clusters. In order to isolate larger quantities of D. africanus ferredoxin III, we have overexpressed it in Escherichia coli by constructing a synthetic gene based on the amino acid sequence of the native protein. The recombinant ferredoxin was expressed in E. coli as an apoprotein. We have reconstituted the holoprotein by incubating the apoprotein with excess iron and sulphide in the presence of a reducing agent. The reconstituted recombinant ferredoxin appeared to have a lower stability than that of wild-type D. africanus ferredoxin III. We have shown by low-temperature magnetic circular dichroism and EPR spectroscopy that the recombinant ferredoxin contains a [3Fe-4S]1+/0 and a [4Fe-4S]2+/1+ cluster similar to those found in native D. africanus ferredoxin III. These results indicate that the two clusters have been correctly inserted into the recombinant ferredoxin.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1812-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Valsesia ◽  
Malgorzata Roos ◽  
Erik C. Böttger ◽  
Michael Hombach

In this study, we introduce a new approach for determination of epidemiologic cutoffs (ECOFFs) and resistant-population cutoffs (RCOFFs) based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. As an example, the method was applied for determination of ECOFFs for seven different beta-lactam antibiotics and wild-type populations ofEscherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae, andEnterobacter cloacae. In addition, RCOFFs were determined for bacterial populations with defined resistance mechanisms (“resistotypes”), i.e., extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-positiveE. coli, ESBL-positiveK. pneumoniae, and ESBL-positiveE. cloacae; AmpC cephalosporinase-positiveE. coliand AmpC-positiveK. pneumoniae; and broad-spectrum beta-lactamase (BSBL)-positiveE. coli. RCOFFs and ECOFFs are instrumental for a systematic characterization of associations between resistotypes and wild-type populations.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (14) ◽  
pp. 4318-4325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaru Ohara ◽  
Henry C. Wu ◽  
Krishnan Sankaran ◽  
Paul D. Rick

ABSTRACT We report here the identification of a new lipoprotein, NlpI, inEscherichia coli K-12. The NlpI structural gene (nlpI) is located between the genes pnp(polynucleotide phosphorylase) and deaD (RNA helicase) at 71 min on the E. coli chromosome. The nlpI gene encodes a putative polypeptide of approximately 34 kDa, and multiple lines of evidence clearly demonstrate that NlpI is indeed a lipoprotein. An nlpI::cm mutation rendered growth of the cells osmotically sensitive, and incubation of the insertion mutant at an elevated temperature resulted in the formation of filaments. The altered phenotype of the mutant was a direct consequence of the mutation in nlpI, since it was complemented by the wild-type nlpI gene alone. Overexpression of the unaltered nlpI gene in wild-type cells resulted in the loss of the rod morphology and the formation of single prolate ellipsoids and pairs of prolate ellipsoids joined by partial constrictions. NlpI may be important for an as-yet-undefined step in the overall process of cell division.


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