1
|
Fedorowicz J, Sączewski J. Advances in the Synthesis of Biologically Active Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:4649. [PMID: 38731869 PMCID: PMC11083083 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25094649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in the design and synthesis of biologically active quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). The covered scope extends beyond commonly reviewed antimicrobial derivatives to include synthetic agents with antifungal, anticancer, and antiviral properties. Additionally, this review highlights examples of quaternary ammonium compounds exhibiting activity against protozoa and herbicidal effects, as well as analgesic and anesthetic derivatives. The article also embraces the quaternary-ammonium-containing cholinesterase inhibitors and muscle relaxants. QACs, marked by their inherent permanent charge, also find widespread usage across diverse domains such as fabric softeners, hair conditioners, detergents, and disinfectants. The effectiveness of QACs hinges greatly on finding the right equilibrium between hydrophilicity and lipophilicity. The ideal length of the alkyl chain varies according to the unique structure of each QAC and its biological settings. It is expected that this review will provide comprehensive data for medicinal and industrial chemists to design and develop novel QAC-based products.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Fedorowicz
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Al. Gen. J. Hallera 107, 80-416 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Jarosław Sączewski
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Al. Gen. J. Hallera 107, 80-416 Gdańsk, Poland;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mandal S, Patra D, Mandal S, Das GK, Sahoo P. Insights into colistin-mediated fluorescence labelling of bacterial LPS. RSC Adv 2024; 14:2770-2777. [PMID: 38234867 PMCID: PMC10792355 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra07107c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Gram-negative bacterial infections are becoming untreatable due to their ability to mutate, and the gradual development of their resistance to the available antimicrobials. In recent times colistin, a drug of last resort, started losing its efficacy towards multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Colistin targets bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and destabilises the cytoplasmic membrane by disrupting the outer LPS membrane. In this study, we have tried to label the bacterial LPS, the main constituent of the cytoplasmic membrane of bacterial cells, to try to understand the interaction mechanism of LPS with colistin. The chemosensor, naphthaldehyde appended furfural (NAF) that selectively recognises colistin can label LPS, by showing its fluorescence signals. The computationally derived three-dimensional structure of LPS has been introduced to speculate on the possible binding mode of colistin with LPS, and this was also thoroughly studied with the help of quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics energy minimisation. Fluorescence microscopy and FE-SEM microscopic studies were also used to observe the change in the structural morphology of colistin-sensitive and resistant Salmonella typhi in different experimental conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Saurodeep Mandal
- Department of Chemistry, Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati Santiniketan 731235 West Bengal India
| | - Dipanwita Patra
- Department of Microbiology, University of Calcutta Kolkata 700019 West Bengal India
| | - Sukhendu Mandal
- Department of Microbiology, University of Calcutta Kolkata 700019 West Bengal India
| | - Gourab Kanti Das
- Department of Chemistry, Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati Santiniketan 731235 West Bengal India
| | - Prithidipa Sahoo
- Department of Chemistry, Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati Santiniketan 731235 West Bengal India
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ameh T, Zarzosa K, Dickinson J, Braswell WE, Sayes CM. Nanoparticle surface stabilizing agents influence antibacterial action. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1119550. [PMID: 36846763 PMCID: PMC9947285 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1119550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The antibacterial properties of nanoparticles are of particular interest because of their potential to serve as an alternative therapy to combat antimicrobial resistance. Metal nanoparticles such as silver and copper nanoparticles have been investigated for their antibacterial properties. Silver and copper nanoparticles were synthesized with the surface stabilizing agents cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB, to confer a positive surface charge) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP, to confer a neutral surface charge). Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and viable plate count assays were used to determine effective doses of silver and copper nanoparticles treatment against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Sphingobacterium multivorum. Results show that CTAB stabilized silver and copper nanoparticles were more effective antibacterial agents than PVP stabilized metal nanoparticles, with MIC values in a range of 0.003 μM to 0.25 μM for CTAB stabilized metal nanoparticles and 0.25 μM to 2 μM for PVP stabilized metal nanoparticles. The recorded MIC and MBC values of the surface stabilized metal nanoparticles show that they can serve as effective antibacterial agents at low doses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thelma Ameh
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - Kusy Zarzosa
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States,United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Science and Technology, Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Edinburg, TX, United States
| | - Jake Dickinson
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - W. Evan Braswell
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Science and Technology, Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Edinburg, TX, United States
| | - Christie M. Sayes
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States,*Correspondence: Christie M. Sayes, ✉
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Srivastava D, Patra N. Self-Uptake Mechanism of Polymyxin-Based Lipopeptide against Gram-Negative Bacterial Membrane: Role of the First Adsorbed Lipopeptide. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:8222-8232. [PMID: 36126341 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c03827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Research in the continuously increasing threat of polymyxin-resistant multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes severe infection in immunocompromised patients, has resulted in the development of several polymyxin-derived cyclic lipopeptides containing l-α-γ- diamino butyric acid-like FADDI-019 (F19). In this work, F19's insertion into a minimal model of the asymmetric outer membrane of the bacterium, which contained only penta-acylated lipid A (LipA) and lacked keto-d-octulosonic acid and O-antigens, in the top leaflet and phospholipids in the bottom leaflet, was studied. F19 exhibited all of the hallmarks of the self-uptake mechanism into the asymmetric bilayer. While a single monomer of the lipopeptide did not get partitioned into the inside of the bilayer, it competitively displaced Ca2+ from the membrane surface, observed as a decrease in Ca2+ coordination number with phosphate groups (1.89 vs 1.718), resulting in membrane destabilization. This resulted in an increment of the average defect size and the probability of interplay between lipid tails and hydrophobic residues of another F19. When more than one monomer was present in the system, the first monomer remained docked on the surface, while other monomers intercalated into the bilayer interior with their hydrophobic moieties "sleeved" by lipid acyl chains. The free energy barrier for partial insertion of the lipopeptide into a bilayer in the presence of surface-docked second F19 was recorded at ∼1.3 kcal/mol using two-dimensional (2D) well-tempered metadynamics, making it a low barrier process at 300 K. This study is an attempt to demonstrate the self-uptake mechanism of F19 during intercalation process into the bilayer interior, which may help in the design of better alternates for polymyxins to work against polymyxin resistance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diship Srivastava
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad 826004, India
| | - Niladri Patra
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad 826004, India
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Weerakoon D, Petrov K, Pedebos C, Khalid S. Polymyxin B1 within the E. coli cell envelope: insights from molecular dynamics simulations. Biophys Rev 2021; 13:1061-1070. [PMID: 35047090 PMCID: PMC8724489 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-021-00869-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Polymyxins are used as last-resort antibiotics, where other treatments have been ineffectual due to antibiotic resistance. However, resistance to polymyxins has also been now reported, therefore it is instructive to characterise at the molecular level, the mechanisms of action of polymyxins. Here we review insights into these mechanisms from molecular dynamics simulations and discuss the utility of simulations as a complementary technique to experimental methodologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kamen Petrov
- Hertford College, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3BW UK
| | - Conrado Pedebos
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QU UK
| | - Syma Khalid
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QU UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Guest RL, Rutherford ST, Silhavy TJ. Border Control: Regulating LPS Biogenesis. Trends Microbiol 2021; 29:334-345. [PMID: 33036869 PMCID: PMC7969359 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The outer membrane (OM) is a defining feature of Gram-negative bacteria that serves as a permeability barrier and provides rigidity to the cell. Critical to OM function is establishing and maintaining an asymmetrical bilayer structure with phospholipids in the inner leaflet and the complex glycolipid lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the outer leaflet. Cells ensure this asymmetry by regulating the biogenesis of lipid A, the conserved and essential anchor of LPS. Here we review the consequences of disrupting the regulatory components that control lipid A biogenesis, focusing on the rate-limiting step performed by LpxC. Dissection of these processes provides critical insights into bacterial physiology and potential new targets for antibiotics able to overcome rapidly spreading resistance mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Randi L Guest
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Steven T Rutherford
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Thomas J Silhavy
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Regen SL. Membrane-Disrupting Molecules as Therapeutic Agents: A Cautionary Note. JACS AU 2021; 1:3-7. [PMID: 34467266 PMCID: PMC8395607 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.0c00037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Mechanistic studies have shown that aggregates of a common membrane disrupting molecule, Triton X-100, destroy the integrity of cholesterol-rich phospholipid bilayers via a catastrophic rupture process. In sharp contrast, attack on such membranes by monomers of Triton X-100 destroys their integrity through mild leakage events. This discovery of duplicity in the destruction of membrane integrity by a membrane-disrupting molecule has led to the design of derivatives of Amphotericin B that exhibit a lower tendency to aggregate and antifungal and hemolytic activities that are well-separated. An animal study with one such derivative has shown that its efficacy is similar to that of Amphotericin B but with substantially reduced toxicity. A related in vitro study of a series of derivatives of l-phenylalanine has revealed that monomers possess significant antibacterial activity, while aggregates of these same molecules exhibit hemolytic as well as antibacterial activity. Taken together, these experimental findings point to the need for paying special attention to differences in the selectivity between monomeric and aggregated forms of membrane-disrupting molecules as therapeutic agents, where monomers are expected to be the more selective species. Whether improving the selectivity of antimicrobial peptides and other antimicrobial agents is also possible by reducing their tendency to aggregate, and whether membrane-disrupting molecules can be created that exploit differences in the lipid composition between coronaviruses and mammalian cells, are two important questions that remain to be answered.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Steven L. Regen
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Regen SL. Improving the Cellular Selectivity of a Membrane-Disrupting Antimicrobial Agent by Monomer Control and by Taming. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26020374. [PMID: 33450850 PMCID: PMC7828373 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26020374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance represents a significant world-wide health threat that is looming. To meet this challenge, new classes of antimicrobial agents and the redesign of existing ones will be required. This review summarizes some of the studies that have been carried out in my own laboratories involving membrane-disrupting agents. A major discovery that we made, using a Triton X-100 as a prototypical membrane-disrupting molecule and cholesterol-rich liposomes as model systems, was that membrane disruption can occur by two distinct processes, depending on the state of aggregation of the attacking agent. Specifically, we found that monomers induced leakage, while attack by aggregates resulted in a catastrophic rupture of the membrane. This discovery led us to design of a series of derivatives of the clinically important antifungal agent, Amphotericin B, where we demonstrated the feasibility of separating antifungal from hemolytic activity by decreasing the molecule’s tendency to aggregate, i.e., by controlling its monomer concentration. Using an entirely different approach (i.e., a “taming” strategy), we found that by covalently attaching one or more facial amphiphiles (“floats”) to Amphotericin B, its aggregate forms were much less active in lysing red blood cells while maintaining high antifungal activity. The possibility of applying such “monomer control” and “taming” strategies to other membrane-disrupting antimicrobial agents is briefly discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Steven L Regen
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
| |
Collapse
|