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Guida M, Tammaro C, Quaranta M, Salvucci B, Biava M, Poce G, Consalvi S. Amino Acid Biosynthesis Inhibitors in Tuberculosis Drug Discovery. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:725. [PMID: 38931847 PMCID: PMC11206623 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16060725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report, an estimated 10.6 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2022, and 1.30 million died. A major concern is the emergence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains, fueled by the length of anti-TB treatment and HIV comorbidity. Innovative anti-TB agents acting with new modes of action are the only solution to counteract the spread of resistant infections. To escape starvation and survive inside macrophages, Mtb has evolved to become independent of the host by synthesizing its own amino acids. Therefore, targeting amino acid biosynthesis could subvert the ability of the mycobacterium to evade the host immune system, providing innovative avenues for drug discovery. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the most recent progress in the discovery of amino acid biosynthesis inhibitors. Among the hits discovered over the past five years, tryptophan (Trp) inhibitors stand out as the most advanced and have significantly contributed to demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for future TB drug discovery. Future efforts should be directed at prioritizing the chemical optimization of these hits to enrich the TB drug pipeline with high-quality leads.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Giovanna Poce
- Department of Chemistry and Technologies of Drug, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.G.); (C.T.); (M.Q.); (B.S.); (M.B.)
| | - Sara Consalvi
- Department of Chemistry and Technologies of Drug, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.G.); (C.T.); (M.Q.); (B.S.); (M.B.)
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Yang Y, Xu Y, Yue Y, Wang H, Cui Y, Pan M, Zhang X, Zhang L, Li H, Xu M, Tang Y, Chen S. Investigate Natural Product Indolmycin and the Synthetically Improved Analogue Toward Antimycobacterial Agents. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:39-53. [PMID: 34908399 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Indolmycin (IND) is a microbial natural product that selectively inhibits bacterial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS). The tryptophan biosynthesis pathway was recently shown to be an important target for developing new antibacterial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We investigated the antibacterial activity of IND against several mycobacterial model strains. A TrpRS biochemical assay was developed to analyze a library of synthetic IND analogues. The 4″-methylated IND compound, Y-13, showed improved anti-Mtb activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.88 μM (∼0.5 μg/mL). The MIC increased significantly when overexpression of TrpRS was induced in the genetically engineered surrogate M. bovis BCG. The cocrystal structure of Mtb TrpRS complexed with IND and ATP has revealed that the amino acid pocket is in a state between the open form of apo protein and the closed complex with the reaction intermediate. In whole-cell-based experiments, we studied the combination effect of Y-13 paired with different antibacterial agents. We evaluated the killing kinetics, the frequency of resistance to INDs, and the mode of resistance of IND-resistant mycobacteria by genome sequencing. The synergistic interaction of Y-13 with the TrpE allosteric inhibitor, indole propionic acid, suggests that prospective IND analogues could shut down tryptophan biosynthesis and protein biosynthesis in pathogens, leading to a new class of antibiotics. Finally, we discuss a strategy to expand the genome mining of antibiotic-producing microbes specifically for antimycobacterial development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhong Yang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yuanyuan Xu
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yuan Yue
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Heng Wang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yumeng Cui
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Miaomiao Pan
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Xi Zhang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Haitao Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Min Xu
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yefeng Tang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Shawn Chen
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
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