In vitro and in vivo activities of antibiotic PM181104.

Drug resistance has become a global threat that, if not addressed, may return us to the preantibiotic era. A way to overcome the problem of growing incidence of global antibiotic resistance is to introduce compounds belonging to classes that are new to the clinic. During a screening of the marine microbial extract library for new antibiotics, one of the extracts showed promising antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organisms. Bioactivity-guided isolation and characterization of active metabolites led to the discovery of a novel thiazolyl cyclic-peptide antibiotic, PM181104. It was isolated and characterized from a marine sponge-associated actinobacterium strain of the genus Kocuria (MTCC 5269). The compound exhibited a potent in vitro antibacterial activity against a broad range of Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The MIC values evaluated for the compound were found to be in the single-digit nanomolar range. In in vivo studies of PM181104 in a BALB/c murine septicemia model, the compound displayed 100% effective dose (ED100) values of 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg of body weight against MRSA and 10.0 mg/kg against VRE. In this report, in vitro and in vivo studies of PM181104 are described.

UDP-glucose 4, 6-dehydratase activity plays an important role in maintaining cell wall integrity and virulence of Candida albicans.

Candida albicans, a human fungal pathogen, undergoes morphogenetic changes that are associated with virulence. We report here that GAL102 in C. albicans encodes a homolog of dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, an enzyme that affects cell wall properties as well as virulence of many pathogenic bacteria. We found that GAL102 deletion leads to greater sensitivity to antifungal drugs and cell wall destabilizing agents like Calcofluor white and Congo red. The mutant also formed biofilms consisting mainly of hyphal cells that show less turgor. The NMR analysis of cell wall mannans of gal102 deletion strain revealed that a major constituent of mannan is missing and the phosphomannan component known to affect virulence is greatly reduced. We also observed that there was a substantial reduction in the expression of genes involved in biofilm formation but increase in the expression of genes encoding glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins in the mutant. These, along with altered mannosylation of cell wall proteins together might be responsible for multiple phenotypes displayed by the mutant. Finally, the mutant was unable to grow in the presence of resident peritoneal macrophages and elicited a weak pro-inflammatory cytokine response in vitro. Similarly, this mutant elicited a poor serum pro-inflammatory cytokine response as judged by IFNγ and TNFα levels and showed reduced virulence in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis. Importantly, an Ala substitution for a conserved Lys residue in the active site motif YXXXK, that abrogates the enzyme activity also showed reduced virulence and increased filamentation similar to the gal102 deletion strain. Since inactivating the enzyme encoded by GAL102 makes the cells sensitive to antifungal drugs and reduces its virulence, it can serve as a potential drug target in combination therapies for C. albicans and related pathogens.

A fluorinated analog of ISO-1 blocks the recognition and biological function of MIF and is orally efficacious in a murine model of colitis.

A promising therapeutic approach to diminish pathological inflammation is to inhibit the synthesis and/or biological activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). Prior studies have shown that intraperitoneal administration of small-molecule inhibitors targeting the catalytic pocket of MIF (e.g., ISO-1) elicits a therapeutic effect in mouse inflammation models. However, it remains to be elucidated whether these tautomerase activity inhibitors block the synthesis and/or biological activity of MIF. In this study, we investigated and compared the activity of representative MIF inhibitors from isoxazole series (fluorinated analog of ISO-1; ISO-F) and substituted quinoline series (compound 7E; 7E). Our results demonstrate that ISO-F is a more potent MIF inhibitor than 7E. Both ISO-F and 7E do not inhibit MIF synthesis but "bind-onto" MIF thereby blocking its recognition. However, in contrast to 7E, ISO-F docks well in the active site of MIF and also has a stronger binding affinity towards MIF. In line with these observations, ISO-F, but not 7E, robustly inhibits the biological function of MIF. Most importantly, ISO-F, when administered orally in a therapeutic regimen, significantly suppresses dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced murine colitis. This study, which provides mechanistic insights into the anti-inflammatory efficacy of ISO-F, is the first documented report of in vivo anti-inflammatory efficacy of a MIF inhibitor upon oral administration. Moreover, the findings from this study reinforce the potential of catalytic site of MIF as a target for eliciting therapeutic effect in inflammatory disorders. Compounds (e.g., ISO-F) that block not only the recognition but also the biological function of MIF are potentially attractive for reducing pathological inflammation.

Backbone dynamics of the RNase H domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase.

Previous NMR relaxation studies of the isolated RNase H domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase at low pH have revealed that it is substantially more dynamic and less ordered than the relatively stable and catalytically active E. coli RNase HI. Using more recently developed techniques, we have investigated the dynamic behavior of the RNase H domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase at a more physiological pH (6.8), under a variety of solution conditions: no Mg(2+), 80 mM Mg(2+), and 80 mM Mg(2+) plus AMP ligand. In addition, we have repeated the previous measurements on a sample containing 100 mM sodium acetate, pH 5.4. Under all conditions studied, the order parameters from NMR relaxation analysis are uniformly high (>0.8) for most of the domain with the exception of the C-terminal region. Subtle differences can be found among the conditions studied, although the statistical significance of the differences is marginal. Residues 71-114 show a slight increase in order parameter with the addition of 5'-AMP. Conformational exchange, measured with CPMG relaxation dispersion experiments in the presence of Mg and AMP, were detected for some NH sites, predominantly located in the N-terminal region of the protein near strands beta2 and beta3 and helix alpha(A) (residues 28-69). In contrast with earlier studies indicating pathologically extreme dynamic behavior that apparently correlated with inactivity of the isolated domain, the relaxation analysis under the conditions of the present study yielded parameters that are more similar to those of the active E. coli RNase HI. A comparison of the order parameters obtained from a model-free analysis of the relaxation data with the B-factors in the crystal structures of the RNase H domain, both for the isolated domain and for the full HIV-1 reverse transcriptase structure, suggests that the dynamic behavior is similar in all cases.

Solution structure of the RNase H domain of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase in the presence of magnesium.

This paper presents the first solution structure of the RNase H domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) determined by NMR methods. The solution conditions in this study were at physiological pH in the presence of Mg(2+). An investigation of the dependence of the (1)H-(15)N HSQC spectrum of the RNase H domain on [Mg(2+)] indicates that Mg(2+) produces significant, global effects on the amide chemical shifts, implying that divalent metal ion binding is important for stabilizing the structure of the isolated domain in solution. Analysis of amide shift data as a function of MgCl(2) concentration using either a single- or two-site binding model indicated that the latter provided a significantly improved fit, with the K(D) for site A = 2.7-3.2 mM and K(D) for site B approximately 35 mM, calculated on the assumption that site A is already occupied. Resonances of the [U-(13)C,(15)N]RNase H domain, measured at pH 6.8, in 80 mM MgCl(2), were assigned and NOESY data collected in order to determine the structure. Assignment of the NOESY spectra using the ARIA program resulted in a high-resolution structure for residues 6-114 which was similar to the crystal structure of the isolated domain,. The data were insufficient to define a compact structure for the C-terminal residues after 114. Residues I134-L138 located at the C-terminus are highly disordered and give rise to relatively sharp and intense amide resonances, while the amide resonances for the segment from E124 to A132 appear to be largely absent and are presumably subject to significant exchange broadening between different conformational states. Comparisons with crystal structure data for the full reverse transcriptase molecule indicate that the corresponding region is absent in nearly all of the crystal structures determined for the P2(1)2(1)2(1) space group, while these residues adopt an alpha-helix in structures determined for other symmetry groups. This structural heterogeneity indicates that significant conformational variability exists for this segment of the full reverse transcriptase enzyme as well, and the structure of the C-terminal peptide can be selected or deselected, depending on crystallization conditions. This analysis, along with the structural characterization contained herein, challenges the previous paradigm that the dynamic behavior of the isolated RNase H domain differs substantially from the behavior in the intact enzyme. The poor Mg(2+) binding and conformational flexibility of residues located near the active site indicate that substrate binding is a precondition for metal ion binding and for selecting the active site conformation of the RNase H domain.