Antibacterial Nucleoside-Analog Inhibitor of Bacterial RNA Polymerase.

Drug-resistant bacterial pathogens pose an urgent public-health crisis. Here, we report the discovery, from microbial-extract screening, of a nucleoside-analog inhibitor that inhibits bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) and exhibits antibacterial activity against drug-resistant bacterial pathogens: pseudouridimycin (PUM). PUM is a natural product comprising a formamidinylated, N-hydroxylated Gly-Gln dipeptide conjugated to 6'-amino-pseudouridine. PUM potently and selectively inhibits bacterial RNAP in vitro, inhibits bacterial growth in culture, and clears infection in a mouse model of Streptococcus pyogenes peritonitis. PUM inhibits RNAP through a binding site on RNAP (the NTP addition site) and mechanism (competition with UTP for occupancy of the NTP addition site) that differ from those of the RNAP inhibitor and current antibacterial drug rifampin (Rif). PUM exhibits additive antibacterial activity when co-administered with Rif, exhibits no cross-resistance with Rif, and exhibits a spontaneous resistance rate an order-of-magnitude lower than that of Rif. PUM is a highly promising lead for antibacterial therapy.

A Novel Microbisporicin Producer Identified by Early Dereplication during Lantibiotic Screening.

With the increasing need of effective antibiotics against multi-drug resistant pathogens, lantibiotics are an attractive option of a new class of molecules. They are ribosomally synthetized and posttranslationally modified peptides possessing potent antimicrobial activity against aerobic and anaerobic Gram-positive pathogens, including those increasingly resistant to ß-lactams and glycopeptides. Some of them (actagardine, mersacidin, planosporicin, and microbisporicin) inhibit cell wall biosynthesis in pathogens and their effect is not antagonized by vancomycin. Hereby, we apply an efficient strategy for lantibiotic screening to 240 members of a newly described genus of filamentous actinomycetes, named Actinoallomurus, that is considered a yet-poorly-exploited promising source for novel bioactive metabolites. By combining antimicrobial differential assay against Staphylococcus aureus and its L-form (also in the presence of a ß-lactamase cocktail or Ac-Lys-D-alanyl-D-alanine tripeptide), with LC-UV-MS dereplication coupled with bioautography, a novel producer of the potent microbisporicin complex was rapidly identified. Under the commercial name of NAI-107, it is currently in late preclinical phase for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-positive pathogens. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a lantibiotic produced by an Actinoallomurus sp. and on a microbisporicin producer not belonging to the Microbispora genus.

Pharmacological properties of NAI-603, a well-tolerated semisynthetic derivative of ramoplanin.

NAI-603 is a ramoplanin derivative designed to overcome the tolerability issues of the parent drug as a systemic agent. NAI-603 is highly active against aerobic and anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria, with MICs ranging from 0.008 to 8 µg/ml. MICs were not significantly affected by pH (range, 6 to 8), by inoculum up to 10(8) CFU/ml, or by addition of 50% human serum. Against staphylococci and enterococci, NAI-603 was rapidly bactericidal, with minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/MIC ratios never exceeding 4. The frequency of spontaneous resistance was low at 2× to 4× MIC (≤1×10(-6) to ≤1×10(-8)) and below the detection limit (about ≤1×10(-9)) at 8×MIC. Serial subcultures at 0.5×MIC yielded at most an 8-fold increase in MICs. In a systemic infection induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the 50% effective dose (ED50) of intravenous (i.v.) NAI-603 was 0.4 mg/kg, lower than that of oral (p.o.) linezolid (1.4 mg/kg) and subcutaneous (s.c.) teicoplanin (1.4 mg/kg) or vancomycin (0.6 mg/kg). In neutropenic mice infected with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), the ED50s for NAI-603 were 1.1 to 1.6 mg/kg i.v., compared to 0.5 mg/kg i.v. of ramoplanin. The bactericidal activity was confirmed in vivo in the rat granuloma pouch model induced by MRSA, where NAI-603, at 40 mg/kg i.v., induced about a 2- to 3-log10-reduction in viable bacteria in the exudates, which persisted for more than 72 h. The pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of NAI-603 and ramoplanin at 20 mg/kg show similar half-lives (3.27 and 3.80 h, respectively) with the maximum concentration (Cmax) markedly higher for NAI-603 (207 µg/ml versus 79 µg/ml). The favorable pharmacological profile of NAI-603, coupled with the absence of local tolerability issues, supports further investigation.

Efficacy of the new lantibiotic NAI-107 in experimental infections induced by multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.

NAI-107 is a novel lantibiotic active against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus (GISA), and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of NAI-107 in animal models of severe infection. In acute lethal infections induced with a penicillin-intermediate Streptococcus pneumoniae strain in immunocompetent mice, or with MRSA, GISA, and VRE strains in neutropenic mice, the 50% effective dose (ED(50)) values of NAI-107 were comparable or lower than those of reference compounds, irrespective of the strain and immune status (0.51 to 14.2 mg/kg of body weight for intravenous [i.v.] NAI-107, 5.1 to 22.4 for oral linezolid, and 22.4 for subcutaneous [s.c.] vancomycin). In the granuloma pouch model induced in rats with a MRSA strain, intravenous NAI-107 showed a dose-proportional bactericidal activity that, at a single 40-mg/kg dose, compared with 2 20-mg/kg doses at a 12-h or 24-h interval, caused a 3-log(10)-CFU/ml reduction of viable MRSA in exudates that persisted for more than 72 h. Rat endocarditis was induced with a MRSA strain and treated for five consecutive days. In a first experiment, using 5, 10, or 20 mg/kg/day, and in a second experiment, when 10 mg/kg at 12-h intervals was compared to 20 mg/kg/day, intravenous NAI-107 was effective in reducing the bacterial load in heart vegetations in a dose-proportional manner. Trough plasma levels, as determined on days 2 and 5, were several times higher than the NAI-107 minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC). NAI-107 binding to rat and human serum ranges between 93% and 98.6%. The rapid bactericidal activity of NAI-107 observed in vitro was thus confirmed by the efficacy in several models of experimental infection induced by Gram-positive pathogens, supporting further investigation of the compound.

Synthesis and preliminary biological characterization of new semisynthetic derivatives of ramoplanin.

Ramoplanin is a glycolipodepsipeptide antibiotic active against Gram-positive bacteria including vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Ramoplanin inhibits bacterial cell wall biosynthesis by a mechanism different from that of glycopeptides and hence does not show cross-resistance with these antibiotics. The systemic use of ramoplanin has been so far prevented because of its low local tolerability when injected intravenously. To overcome this problem, the fatty acid side chain of ramoplanin was selectively removed and replaced with a variety of different carboxylic acids. Many of the new ramoplanin derivatives showed antimicrobial activity similar to that of the natural precursor coupled with a significantly improved local tolerability. Among them the derivative in which the 2-methylphenylacetic acid has replaced the di-unsaturated fatty acid side chain (48) was selected as the most interesting compound and submitted to further in vitro and in vivo characterization studies.

A novel lantibiotic acting on bacterial cell wall synthesis produced by the uncommon actinomycete Planomonospora sp.

Important classes of antibiotics acting on bacterial cell wall biosynthesis, such as beta-lactams and glycopeptides, are used extensively in therapy and are now faced with a challenge because of the progressive spread of resistant pathogens. A discovery program was devised to target novel peptidoglycan biosynthesis inhibitors capable of overcoming these resistance mechanisms. The microbial products were first screened according to their differential activity against Staphylococcus aureus and its L-form. Then, activities insensitive to the addition of a beta-lactamase cocktail or d-alanyl-d-alanine affinity resin were selected. Thirty-five lantibiotics were identified from a library of broth extracts produced by 40,000 uncommon actinomycetes. Five of them showed structural characteristics that did not match with any known microbial metabolite. In this study, we report on the production, structure determination, and biological activity of one of these novel lantibiotics, namely, planosporicin, which is produced by the uncommon actinomycete Planomonospora sp. Planosporicin is a 2194 Da polypeptide originating from 24 proteinogenic amino acids. It contains lanthionine and methyllanthionine amino acids generating five intramolecular thioether bridges. Planosporicin selectively blocks peptidoglycan biosynthesis and causes accumulation of UDP-linked peptidoglycan precursors in growing bacterial cells. On the basis of its mode of action and globular structure, planosporicin can be assigned to the mersacidin (20 amino acids, 1825 Da) and the actagardine (19 amino acids, 1890 Da) subgroup of type B lantibiotics. Considering its spectrum of activity against Gram-positive pathogens of medical importance, including multi-resistant clinical isolates, and its efficacy in vivo, planosporicin represents a potentially new antibiotic to treat emerging pathogens.

Candida albicans strains deficient in CHS7, a key regulator of chitin synthase III, exhibit morphogenetic alterations and attenuated virulence.

Chitin is a structural polysaccharide present in most fungal cell walls, whose synthesis depends on a family of enzymic activities named chitin synthases (CSs). The specific role of each of them, as well as of their regulatory proteins, in cell morphogenesis and virulence is not well understood. Here, it is shown that most chitin synthesis in Candida albicans, one of the fungi most commonly isolated from opportunistic mycoses and infections, depends on CHS7. Thus, C. albicans chs7Delta null mutants showed reduced levels of chitin and CS activity, and were resistant to Calcofluor. Despite the sequence similarity and functional relationship with ScChs7p, CaChs7p was unable to restore CSIII activity in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae chs7Delta null mutant, because it was unable to direct ScChs3p export from the endoplasmic reticulum. C. albicans chs7Delta null mutants did not show any defect in growth rate, but yeast cells displayed minor morphogenetic defects affecting septum formation, and showed an increased tendency to form filaments. CaChs7p was not required for germ-tube emission, and null mutant strains underwent the dimorphic transition correctly. However, colony morphology appeared distinctively affected. chs7Delta hyphae were very curved and had irregular lateral walls, resulting in very compact colonies that seemed unable to spread out radially on the surface, unlike the wild-type. This growth pattern may be associated with the reduced virulence and high clearance rate observed when the chs7Delta strain was used in a murine model of infection. Therefore, CaChs7p is required for normal hyphal morphogenesis, suggesting that in C. albicans CSIII plays an important role in maintaining cell wall integrity, being essential when invading surrounding tissues.

Efficacy of dalbavancin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the rat granuloma pouch infection model.

Infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hospital patients. Moreover, increased incidences of outpatient MRSA have been recently reported. This study investigated the bactericidal activity of dalbavancin, a novel, semisynthetic glycopeptide antibiotic, against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA in the rat granuloma pouch infection model. A single intravenous dose of 10 mg of dalbavancin/kg of body weight reduced the viable MRSA count in pouch exudates by more than 2 log CFU/ml, and regrowth was prevented for up to 120 h. Comparable results with vancomycin required four 100-mg/kg intramuscular doses. With one or two doses of vancomycin, the bacterial load declined over proportionately shorter periods of time, followed by regrowth. Reduction of the bacterial load obtained with 100- and 200-mg/kg oral doses of linezolid was relatively transient, with regrowth starting at 48 h. A single 10-mg/kg dose of dalbavancin reduced the MSSA count at 24 h to below the limit of detection, with no regrowth for at least 96 h. Dalbavancin demonstrated good exudate penetration; the ratio of the area under the curve (AUC) in plasma to the AUC in pouch exudate was 1.01. The in vivo activity of dalbavancin in this model is consistent with the antibiotic concentrations that are reached and maintained for extended periods of time after a single 10-mg/kg dose and with in vitro data showing that these concentrations are bactericidal for staphylococci. The pharmacokinetic and efficacy data seen in this relevant model of infection suggest that dalbavancin may be administered less frequently than vancomycin and linezolid.

Combinatorial modification of natural products: synthesis and in vitro analysis of derivatives of thiazole peptide antibiotic GE2270 A: A-ring modifications.

Thiazole peptide GE2270 A (1) possesses potent antimicrobial activity against many gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, MRSA; MIC(90)=0.06 microg/mL) and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE; MIC(90)=0.03 microg/mL); however its poor aqueous solubility has prohibited its development for the clinical treatment of infections. An integrated combinatorial and medicinal chemistry program was employed to identify derivatives of 1 that retain activity but possess greatly enhanced aqueous solubility.