scholarly journals Heterocyclic Chemistry Applied to the Design of N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone Analogues as Bacterial Quorum Sensing Signals Mimics

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (17) ◽  
pp. 5135
Author(s):  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Sizhe Li ◽  
Maha Hachicha ◽  
Mohamed Boukraa ◽  
Laurent Soulère ◽  
...  

N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) are small signaling molecules used by many Gram-negative bacteria for coordinating their behavior as a function of their population density. This process, based on the biosynthesis and the sensing of such molecular signals, and referred to as Quorum Sensing (QS), regulates various gene expressions, including growth, virulence, biofilms formation, and toxin production. Considering the role of QS in bacterial pathogenicity, its modulation appears as a possible complementary approach in antibacterial strategies. Analogues and mimics of AHLs are therefore biologically relevant targets, including several families in which heterocyclic chemistry provides a strategic contribution in the molecular design and the synthetic approach. AHLs consist of three main sections, the homoserine lactone ring, the central amide group, and the side chain, which can vary in length and level of oxygenation. The purpose of this review is to summarize the contribution of heterocyclic chemistry in the design of AHLs analogues, insisting on the way heterocyclic building blocks can serve as replacements of the lactone moiety, as a bioisostere for the amide group, or as an additional pattern appended to the side chain. A few non-AHL-related heterocyclic compounds with AHL-like QS activity are also mentioned.

2017 ◽  
Vol 863 ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eri Nasuno ◽  
Yuto Abe ◽  
Ken-ichi Iimura ◽  
Masaki Ohno ◽  
Tetsuji Okuda ◽  
...  

Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) is one of the cell-to-cell communication systems. N-Acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) are the most common QS signals and responsible for biofilm formation in gram-negative bacteria. Inactivation of QS, also referred to as quorum quenching, has been regarded as a popular strategy to control membrane bioreactor (MBR) operations because biofouling in MBR wastewater treatment systems is often caused by biofilm formation. In the present study, 24 bacterial strains were isolated from the secondary effluent of a wastewater treatment plant and AHL productivity and biofilm formation were evaluated on 8 out of 24 isolates. The isolated 8 strains can produce AHLs that only possess a long (C8-C14) acyl side chain. The representative 3 strains were selected from these isolates based on the higher activity of biofilm formation. The AHL separation analysis with a thin layer chromatography clearly showed that N-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) and N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) existed in the secondary effluent sample, while no C6-HSL producing strain was isolated. C8-HSL was identified as the product of isolate No. 6. These results suggest that the secondary effluent probably contains various cell-to-cell signaling molecules derived not only from the inhabitants but also from the other microorganisms involved in the activated sludge for the biological pre-treatment. In this secondary effluent, AHL trapping techniques can be proposed as one of the acceptable strategies for the control of the QS systems because the remaining AHLs have relatively long acyl side chain and low concentrations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kok-Gan Chan ◽  
Huey Jia Cheng ◽  
Jian Woon Chen ◽  
Wai-Fong Yin ◽  
Yun Fong Ngeow

ManyProteobacteriacommunicate via production followed by response of quorum sensing molecules, namely,N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs). These molecules consist of a lactone moiety withN-acyl side chain with various chain lengths and degrees of saturation at C-3 position. AHL-dependent QS is often associated with regulation of diverse bacterial phenotypes including the expression of virulence factors. With the use of biosensor and high resolution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, the AHL production of clinical isolateA. baumannii4KT was studied. Production of short chain AHL, namely,N-hexanoyl-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) andN-octanoyl-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL), was detected.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 1673-1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Sio ◽  
Linda G. Otten ◽  
Robbert H. Cool ◽  
Stephen P. Diggle ◽  
Peter G. Braun ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The virulence of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 is controlled by an N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-dependent quorum-sensing system. During functional analysis of putative acylase genes in the P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome, the PA2385 gene was found to encode an acylase that removes the fatty acid side chain from the homoserine lactone (HSL) nucleus of AHL-dependent quorum-sensing signal molecules. Analysis showed that the posttranslational processing of the acylase and the hydrolysis reaction type are similar to those of the beta-lactam acylases, strongly suggesting that the PA2385 protein is a member of the N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase superfamily. In a bioassay, the purified acylase was shown to degrade AHLs with side chains ranging in length from 11 to 14 carbons at physiologically relevant low concentrations. The substituent at the 3′ position of the side chain did not affect activity, indicating broad-range AHL quorum-quenching activity. Of the two main AHL signal molecules of P. aeruginosa PAO1, N-butanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL) and N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C12-HSL), only 3-oxo-C12-HSL is degraded by the enzyme. Addition of the purified protein to P. aeruginosa PAO1 cultures completely inhibited accumulation of 3-oxo-C12-HSL and production of the signal molecule 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone and reduced production of the virulence factors elastase and pyocyanin. Similar results were obtained when the PA2385 gene was overexpressed in P. aeruginosa. These results demonstrate that the protein has in situ quorum-quenching activity. The quorum-quenching AHL acylase may enable P. aeruginosa PAO1 to modulate its own quorum-sensing-dependent pathogenic potential and, moreover, offers possibilities for novel antipseudomonal therapies.


2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (18) ◽  
pp. 5775-5781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Hawkins ◽  
Frances H. Arnold ◽  
Rainer Stuermer ◽  
Bernhard Hauer ◽  
Jared R. Leadbetter

ABSTRACT LuxR is the 3-oxohexanoyl-homoserine lactone (3OC6HSL)-dependent transcriptional activator of the prototypical acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing system of Vibrio fischeri. Wild-type LuxR exhibits no response to butanoyl-HSL (C4HSL) in quantitative bioassays at concentrations of up to 1 μM; a previously described LuxR variant (LuxR-G2E) exhibits a broadened response to diverse AHLs, including pentanoyl-HSL (C5HSL), but not to C4HSL. Here, two rounds of directed evolution of LuxR-G2E generated variants of LuxR that responded to C4HSL at concentrations as low as 10 nM. One variant, LuxR-G4E, had only one change, I45F, relative to the parent LuxR-G2E, which itself differs from the wild type at three residues. Dissection of the four mutations within LuxR-G4E demonstrated that at least three of these changes were simultaneously required to achieve any measurable C4HSL response. The four changes improved both sensitivity and specificity towards C4HSL relative to any of the other 14 possible combinations of those residues. These data confirm that LuxR is evolutionarily pliable and suggest that LuxR is not intrinsically asymmetric in its response to quorum-sensing signals with different acyl-side-chain lengths.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. eabd0492
Author(s):  
Yixiang Jiang ◽  
Wan Zhang ◽  
Fadeng Yang ◽  
Chuan Wan ◽  
Xiang Cai ◽  
...  

Peptide self-assembly inspired by natural superhelical coiled coils has been actively pursued but remains challenging due to limited helicity of short peptides. Side chain stapling can strengthen short helices but is unexplored in design of self-assembled helical nanofibers as it is unknown how staples could be adapted to coiled coil architecture. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of this design for pentapeptides using a computational method capable of predicting helicity and fiber-forming tendency of stapled peptides containing noncoded amino acids. Experiments showed that the best candidates, which carried an aromatically substituted staple and phenylalanine analogs, displayed exceptional helicity and assembled into nanofibers via specific head-to-tail hydrogen bonding and packing between staple and noncoded side chains. The fibers exhibited sheet-of-helix structures resembling the recently found collapsed coiled coils whose formation was sensitive to side chain flexibility. This study expands the chemical space of coiled coil assemblies and provides guidance for their design.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 414
Author(s):  
Didem Kart ◽  
Tuba Reçber ◽  
Emirhan Nemutlu ◽  
Meral Sagiroglu

Introduction: Alternative anti-biofilm agents are needed to combat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. The mechanisms behind these new agents also need to be revealed at a molecular level. Materials and methods: The anti-biofilm effects of 10 plant-derived compounds on P. aeruginosa biofilms were investigated using minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) and virulence assays. The effects of ciprofloxacin and compound combinations on P. aeruginosa in mono and triple biofilms were compared. A metabolomic approach and qRT-PCR were applied to the biofilms treated with ciprofloxacin in combination with baicalein, esculin hydrate, curcumin, and cinnamaldehyde at sub-minimal biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) concentrations to highlight the specific metabolic shifts between the biofilms and to determine the quorum sensing gene expressions, respectively. Results: The combinations of ciprofloxacin with curcumin, baicalein, esculetin, and cinnamaldehyde showed more reduced MBICs than ciprofloxacin alone. The quorum sensing genes were downregulated in the presence of curcumin and cinnamaldehyde, while upregulated in the presence of baicalein and esculin hydrate rather than for ciprofloxacin alone. The combinations exhibited different killing effects on P. aeruginosa in mono and triple biofilms without affecting its virulence. The findings of the decreased metabolite levels related to pyrimidine and lipopolysaccharide synthesis and to down-regulated alginate and lasI expressions strongly indicate the role of multifactorial mechanisms for curcumin-mediated P. aeruginosa growth inhibition. Conclusions: The use of curcumin, baicalein, esculetin, and cinnamaldehyde with ciprofloxacin will help fight against P. aeruginosa biofilms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to define the effect of plant-based compounds as possible anti-biofilm agents with low MBICs for the treatment of P. aeruginosa biofilms through metabolomic pathways.


Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 712-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Dekimpe ◽  
Eric Déziel

Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses the two major quorum-sensing (QS) regulatory systems las and rhl to modulate the expression of many of its virulence factors. The las system is considered to stand at the top of the QS hierarchy. However, some virulence factors such as pyocyanin have been reported to still be produced in lasR mutants under certain conditions. Interestingly, such mutants arise spontaneously under various conditions, including in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients. Using transcriptional lacZ reporters, LC/MS quantification and phenotypic assays, we have investigated the regulation of QS-controlled factors by the las system. Our results show that activity of the rhl system is only delayed in a lasR mutant, thus allowing the expression of multiple virulence determinants such as pyocyanin, rhamnolipids and C4-homoserine lactone (HSL) during the late stationary phase. Moreover, at this stage, RhlR is able to overcome the absence of the las system by activating specific LasR-controlled functions, including production of 3-oxo-C12-HSL and Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS). P. aeruginosa is thus able to circumvent the deficiency of one of its QS systems by allowing the other to take over. This work demonstrates that the QS hierarchy is more complex than the model simply presenting the las system above the rhl system.


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