Discovery of the first macrolide antibiotic binding protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a new antibiotic resistance drug target

Close Related Drug-Resistance Beijing Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Reveal a Different Transcriptomic Signature in a Murine Disease Progression Model

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) lineage 2/Beijing is associated with high virulence and drug resistance worldwide. In Colombia, the Beijing genotype has circulated since 1997, predominantly on the pacific coast, with the Beijing-Like SIT-190 being more prevalent. This genotype conforms to a drug-resistant cluster and shows a fatal outcome in patients. To better understand virulence determinants, we performed a transcriptomic analysis with a Beijing-Like SIT-190 isolate (BL-323), and Beijing-Classic SIT-1 isolate (BC-391) in progressive tuberculosis (TB) murine model. Bacterial RNA was extracted from mice lungs on days 3, 14, 28, and 60. On average, 0.6% of the total reads mapped against MTB genomes and of those, 90% against coding genes. The strains were independently associated as determined by hierarchical cluster and multidimensional scaling analysis. Gene ontology showed that in strain BL-323 enriched functions were related to host immune response and hypoxia, while proteolysis and protein folding were enriched in the BC-391 strain. Altogether, our results suggested a differential bacterial transcriptional program when evaluating these two closely related strains. The data presented here could potentially impact the control of this emerging, highly virulent, and drug-resistant genotype.

Conformational Changes in a Macrolide Antibiotic Binding Protein From Mycobacterium smegmatis Upon ADP Binding

Rv3197 (MABP-1), a non-canonical ABC protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has ATPase activity and confers inducible resistance to the macrolide family of antibiotics. Here we have shown that MSMEG_1954, the homolog of Rv3197 in M. smegmatis, has a similar function of conferring macrolide resistance. Crystal structures of apo-MSMEG_1954 (form1 and form 2) and MSMEG_1954 in complex with ADP have been determined. These three structures show that MSMEG_1954 has at least two different conformations we identify as closed state (MSMEG_1954-form 1) and open state (MSMEG_1954-form 2 and MSMEG_1954-ADP). Structural superimposition shows that the MSMEG_1954-form 2 and MSMEG_1954-ADP complex have similar conformation to that observed for MABP-1 and MABP-1-erythromicin complex structure. However, the antibiotic binding pocket in MSMEG_1954-form 1 is completely blocked by the N-terminal accessory domain. When bound by ADP, the N-terminal accessory domain undergoes conformational change, which results in the open of the antibiotic binding pocket. Because of the degradation of N terminal accessory domain in MSMSG_1954-form 2, it is likely to represent a transitional state between MSMEG_1954-form 1 and MSMEG_1954-ADP complex structure.

Anti-mycobacterial natural products and mechanisms of action

Covering: up to June, 2020Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major disease with high mortality and morbidity globally. Drug resistance and long duration of treatment make antituberculosis drug discovery more challenging. In this review, we summarize recent advances on anti-TB natural products (NPs) and their potential molecular targets in cell wall synthesis, protein production, energy generation, nucleic acid synthesis and other emerging areas. We highlight compounds with activity against drug-resistant TB, and reveal several novel targets including Mtb biotin synthase, ATP synthase, 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate prenyltransferase and biofilms. These anti-TB NPs and their targets could facilitate target-based screening and accelerate TB drug discovery.

Advanced Methods for Studying Structure and Interactions of Macrolide Antibiotics

Macrolide antibiotics are macrocyclic compounds that are clinically used and prescribed for the treatment of upper and lower respiratory tract infections. They inhibit the synthesis of bacterial proteins by reversible binding to the 23S rRNA at or near the peptidyl transferase center. However, their excellent antibacterial profile was largely compromised by the emergence of bacterial resistance. Today, fighting resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest challenges in medicinal chemistry. Considering various physicochemical properties of macrolides, understanding their structure and interactions with macromolecular targets is crucial for the design of new antibiotics efficient against resistant pathogens. The solid-state structures of some macrolide-ribosome complexes have recently been solved, throwing new light on the macrolide binding mechanisms. On the other hand, a combination of NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling calculations can be applied to study free and bound conformations in solution. In this article, a description of advanced physicochemical methods for elucidating the structure and interactions of macrolide antibiotics in solid state and solution will be provided, and their principal advantages and drawbacks will be discussed.

Emerging roles of the αC-β4 loop in protein kinase structure, function, evolution, and disease

The faithful propagation of cellular signals in most organisms relies on the coordinated functions of a large family of protein kinases that share a conserved catalytic domain. The catalytic domain is a dynamic scaffold that undergoes large conformational changes upon activation. Most of these conformational changes, such as movement of the regulatory αC-helix from an "out" to "in" conformation, hinge on a conserved, but understudied, loop termed the αC-β4 loop, which mediates conserved interactions to tether flexible structural elements to the kinase core. We previously showed that the αC-β4 loop is a unique feature of eukaryotic protein kinases. Here, we review the emerging roles of this loop in kinase structure, function, regulation, and diseases. Through a kinome-wide analysis, we define the boundaries of the loop for the first time and show that sequence and structural variation in the loop correlate with conformational and regulatory variation. Many recurrent disease mutations map to the αC-β4 loop and contribute to drug resistance and abnormal kinase activation by relieving key auto-inhibitory interactions associated with αC-helix and inter-lobe movement. The αC-β4 loop is a hotspot for post-translational modifications, protein-protein interaction, and Hsp90 mediated folding. Our kinome-wide analysis provides insights for hypothesis-driven characterization of understudied kinases and the development of allosteric protein kinase inhibitors.