Structural requirements for tetracycline activity

Biochemical analysis of the biosynthetic pathway of an anticancer tetracycline SF2575

SF2575 1 is a tetracycline polyketide produced by Streptomyces sp. SF2575 and displays exceptionally potent anticancer activity toward a broad range of cancer cell lines. The structure of SF2575 is characterized by a highly substituted tetracycline aglycon. The modifications include methylation of the C-6 and C-12a hydroxyl groups, acylation of the 4-(S)-hydroxyl with salicylic acid, C-glycosylation of the C-9 of the D-ring with D-olivose and further acylation of the C4'-hydroxyl of D-olivose with the unusual angelic acid. Understanding the biosynthesis of SF2575 can therefore expand the repertoire of enzymes that can modify tetracyclines, and facilitate engineered biosynthesis of SF2575 analogues. In this study, we identified, sequenced, and functionally analyzed the ssf biosynthetic gene cluster which contains 40 putative open reading frames. Genes encoding enzymes that can assemble the tetracycline aglycon, as well as installing these unique structural features, are found in the gene cluster. Biosynthetic intermediates were isolated from the SF2575 culture extract to suggest the order of pendant-group addition is C-9 glycosylation, C-4 salicylation, and O-4' angelylcylation. Using in vitro assays, two enzymes that are responsible for C-4 acylation of salicylic acid were identified. These enzymes include an ATP-dependent salicylyl-CoA ligase SsfL1 and a putative GDSL family acyltransferase SsfX3, both of which were shown to have relaxed substrate specificity toward substituted benzoic acids. Since the salicylic acid moiety is critically important for the anticancer properties of SF2575, verification of the activities of SsfL1 and SsfX3 sets the stage for biosynthetic modification of the C-4 group toward structure-activity relationship studies of SF2575. Using heterologous biosynthesis in Streptomyces lividans, we also determined that biosynthesis of the SF2575 tetracycline aglycon 8 parallels that of oxytetracycline 4 and diverges after the assembly of 4-keto-anhydrotetracycline 51. The minimal ssf polyketide synthase together with the amidotransferase SsfD produced the amidated decaketide backbone that is required for the formation of 2-naphthacenecarboxamide skeleton. Additional enzymes, such as cyclases C-6 methyltransferase and C-4/C-12a dihydroxylase, were functionally reconstituted.

Synthesis, characterization, and antibacterial activity of three palladium(II) complexes of tetracyclines

Pd(II) complexes with three antibiotics of the tetracycline family (tetracycline, doxycycline and chlortetracycline) were synthesized and characterized by elemental, thermogravimetric, and conductivity analyses, and infrared spectroscopy. The interactions between Pd(II) ions and tetracycline were investigated in aqueous solution by (1)H NMR. All the tetracyclines studied form 1:1 complexes with Pd(II) via the oxygen of the hydroxyl group at ring A and that of the amide group. The effect of the three complexes on the growth of bacterial strains sensitive and resistant to tetracycline was studied. The Pd(II) complex of tetracycline is practically as efficient as tetracycline in inhibiting the growth of two Escherichia coli (E. coli) sensitive bacterial strains and 16 times more potent against E. coli HB101/pBR322, a bacterial strain resistant to tetracycline. Pd(II) coordination to doxycycline also increased its activity in the resistant strain by a factor of 2.

Preliminary crystallographic analysis of a complex between tetracycline and the trypsin-modified form of Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu

Crystals of a complex between the antibiotic tetracycline and the trypsin-modified form of the Escherichia coli protein elongation factor Tu have been grown in a form suitable for high-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystals belong to space group P2(1), with cell dimensions a = 69.7 A, b = 156.4 A, c = 135.4 A and beta = 95.3 degrees, and contain six molecules of the complex per asymmetric unit. The crystals are well ordered and diffract to a resolution of 2.3 A.

The pharmacokinetics of chlortetracycline orally administered to turkeys: influence of citric acid and Pasteurella multocida infection

A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model was developed to describe the absorption and disposition of chlortetracyline (CTC) in the healthy and diseased (fowl cholera) turkey. The CTC was given (with and without citric acid) as an oral (15 mg/kg) or i.v. (1 mg/kg) dose. When minerals (0.3 g/L Ca2+, 0.1 g/L Mg2+) were dissolved in the bird's drinking water, the model indicated that the addition of citric acid (mass ratio of 10 citrate: 1 CTC) increased the fraction of dose absorbed from 0.06 to 0.16; once absorbed, the fractions of drug eliminated by renal excretion, biliary secretion, and chemical decomposition were 50, 46, and 4%, respectively. The presence of fowl cholera appeared to increase plasma levels by increasing the intestinal permeability and lowering the hepatic and/or renal clearance.

Oral absorption of chlortetracycline in turkeys: influence of citric acid and Pasteurella multocida infection

Plasma and tissue concentrations, following the oral administration of the antibiotic chlortetracycline (CTC) alone or with citric acid, were determined in healthy and infected (Pasteurella multocida) turkeys. The principal results were: 1) The dose (of CTC) versus plasma level relationship was nearly linear. 2) Addition of citric acid to an oral preparation produced significantly higher plasma levels when divalent cations Ca2+ (.3 g/liter) and Mg2+ (.1 g/liter) were present in the drinking water and dosage solution than when citric acid was omitted. 3) The concentration of CTC was considerably higher in the liver and kidney than in the muscle and brain. 4) Birds infected with P. multocida had significantly higher plasma levels than healthy birds. 5) Oral administration of CTC increased the survival rate of the birds infected with P. multocida.

Susceptible Escherichia coli cells can actively excrete tetracyclines

Escherichia coli shows severalfold less susceptibility to tetracyclines when grown in enriched medium than in minimal medium. Transport studies with cells harvested from these media showed different handling of the drugs. Whereas an energy-dependent uptake of tetracycline and minocycline was observed in susceptible K-12 and wild-type E. coli strains grown in minimal medium, an active efflux of minocycline and, to a lesser extent, tetracycline was seen in cells grown in L broth and other enriched media. This efflux was replaced by an active uptake system after treatment of cells grown in L broth with EDTA. When assayed at a lower temperature (27 degrees C), even cells grown in minimal medium showed an efflux of minocycline. Everted membrane vesicles prepared from susceptible cells grown in minimal medium or L broth showed an energy-dependent accumulation of minocycline and tetracycline when supplied with certain divalent cations. These results suggest that an active efflux of tetracyclines occurs in susceptible E. coli but is not detected in cells grown in minimal medium because greater permeability of the outer membrane allows a more rapid active uptake. This efflux system is distinct from that specified by tetracycline resistance determinants. Since the active efflux of minocycline in cells grown in L broth disappeared at external antibiotic concentrations of greater than 100 microM, it may be saturable and so mediated by a membrane carrier.

A new spectrophotometric method for the selective determination of ampicillin, amoxycillin and cyclacillin in the presence of polymers and other degradation products

A rapid and convenient spectrophotometric method is described for the quantitative determination of ampicillin and other amino-penicillins. The method involves conversion of the penicillins to the corresponding piperazine-2,5-dione derivatives by heating in an alkaline sorbitol-zinc ion solution for 10 min at 60 degrees C and subsequent treatment of these derivatives with 1 M sodium hydroxide to give a highly absorbing product with lambda(max) at 322 nm. Since an intact beta-lactam moiety and a free amino group in the side-chain of the penicillin molecules are required for the piperazinedione formation, the method is highly selective. The method was found to be free of interference from polymerization and other degradation products and its application to assess the stability of the amino-penicillins was demonstrated.

Transport of the lipophilic analog minocycline differs from that of tetracycline in susceptible and resistant Escherichia coli strains

Plasmids which specify resistance to tetracycline offer much less resistance to its more lipophilic analog, minocycline. Resistance to minocycline varies for different plasmids. In the case of plasmid R222 (bearing the class B tetracycline resistance determinant on Tn10), minocycline resistance is comparatively high (10 microgram/ml, or 6% of the tetracycline resistance level). For plasmid pIP7 (bearing the class A determinant), minocycline resistance is only 1% of the tetracycline resistance level. To understand the basis for these differences, we compared the transport of the two tetracyclines by susceptible cells and by resistant cells. Uptake of minocycline by susceptible cells was 10 to 20 times more rapid than uptake of tetracycline and occurred largely via an energy-dependent route. This host-mediated energy-dependent uptake of both analogs was still present in tetracycline-resistant cells. In resistant cells, the same plasmid-mediated active efflux system previously described for tetracycline also exported minocycline. The 15-fold greater susceptibility of tetracycline-resistant R222-bearing cells to minocycline as compared with tetracycline could be explained at least in part by the more rapid influx of minocycline, which more easily overcame the efflux system. The particularly low minocycline resistance offered by pIP7 was due to a weak efflux for minocycline, 10-fold less effective than that mediated by R222. The rate-limiting step for uptake of both analogs appeared to be the outer membrane. That the lipophilic minocycline should cross this membrane more rapidly than tetracycline stands in contrast with other studies which show the outer membrane to be a barrier for entry of lipophilic substances.