RESUMEN
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is of major concern for cystic fibrosis patients where this infection can be fatal. With the emergence of drug-resistant strains, there is an urgent need to develop novel antibiotics against P. aeruginosa. MurB is a promising target for novel antibiotic development as it is involved in the cell wall biosynthesis. MurB has been shown to be essential in P. aeruginosa, and importantly, no MurB homologue exists in eukaryotic cells. A fragment-based drug discovery approach was used to target Pa MurB. This led to the identification of a number of fragments, which were shown to bind to MurB. One fragment, a phenylpyrazole scaffold, was shown by ITC to bind with an affinity of Kd = 2.88 mM (LE 0.23). Using a structure guided approach, different substitutions were synthesized and the initial fragment was optimized to obtain a small molecule with Kd = 3.57 µM (LE 0.35).
Asunto(s)
Antibacterianos/química , Proteínas Bacterianas/antagonistas & inhibidores , Oxidorreductasas/antagonistas & inhibidores , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/enzimología , Antibacterianos/metabolismo , Antibacterianos/farmacología , Antibacterianos/uso terapéutico , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Sitios de Unión , Dominio Catalítico , Cristalografía por Rayos X , Fibrosis Quística/complicaciones , Fibrosis Quística/mortalidad , Fibrosis Quística/patología , Evaluación Preclínica de Medicamentos , Humanos , Ligandos , Conformación Molecular , Simulación del Acoplamiento Molecular , Oxidorreductasas/metabolismo , Infecciones por Pseudomonas/complicaciones , Infecciones por Pseudomonas/tratamiento farmacológico , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/efectos de los fármacos , Pirazoles/química , Pirazoles/metabolismo , Pirazoles/farmacología , Pirazoles/uso terapéuticoRESUMEN
More than 46 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease. A large number of potential treatments have been proposed; among these, the inhibition of the aggregation of amyloid ß-peptide (Aß), considered one of the main culprits in Alzheimer's disease. Limitations in monitoring the aggregation of Aß in cells and tissues restrict the screening of anti-amyloid drugs to in vitro studies in most cases. We have developed a simple but powerful method to track Aß aggregation in vivo in real-time, using bacteria as in vivo amyloid reservoir. We use the specific amyloid dye Thioflavin-S (Th-S) to stain bacterial inclusion bodies (IBs), in this case mainly formed of Aß in amyloid conformation. Th-S binding to amyloids leads to an increment of fluorescence that can be monitored. The quantification of the Th-S fluorescence along the time allows tracking Aß aggregation and the effect of potential anti-aggregating agents.