Dissociation kinetics of echinomycin from CpG binding sites in different sequence environments

The UvrA-like protein Ecm16 requires ATPase activity to render resistance against echinomycin

Bacteria use various strategies to become antibiotic resistant. The molecular details of these strategies are not fully understood. We can increase our understanding by investigating the same strategies found in antibiotic‐producing bacteria. In this work, we characterize the self‐resistance protein Ecm16 encoded by echinomycin‐producing bacteria. Ecm16 is a structural homolog of the nucleotide excision repair protein UvrA. Expression of ecm16 in the heterologous system Escherichia coli was sufficient to render resistance against echinomycin. Ecm16 binds DNA (double‐stranded and single‐stranded) using a nucleotide‐independent binding mode. Ecm16’s binding affinity for DNA increased by 1.7‐fold when the DNA is intercalated with echinomycin. Ecm16 can render resistance against echinomycin toxicity independently of the nucleotide excision repair system. Similar to UvrA, Ecm16 has ATPase activity, and this activity is essential for Ecm16’s ability to render echinomycin resistance. Notably, UvrA and Ecm16 were unable to complement each other's function. Together, our findings identify new mechanistic details of how a refurbished DNA repair protein Ecm16 can specifically render resistance to the DNA intercalator echinomycin.

Bisintercalator natural products with potential therapeutic applications: isolation, structure determination, synthetic and biological studies

Echinomycin is the prototypical bisintercalator, a molecule that binds to DNA by inserting two planar chromophores between the base-pairs of duplex DNA, placing its cyclic depsipeptide backbone in the minor groove. As such, it has been the focus of an extensive number of investigations into its biological activity, nucleic acid binding and, to some extent, its structure-activity relationships. However, echinomycin is also the parent member of an extended family of natural products that interact with DNA by a similar mechanism of bisintercalation. The structural variety in these compounds leads to changes in sequence selectivity and and biological activity, particularly as anti-tumour and anti-viral agents. One of the more recently identified marine natural products that is moving close to clinical development is thiocoraline, and it therefore seems timely to review the various bisintercalator natural products.

Synthesis of key sandramycin analogs: systematic examination of the intercalation chromophore

The preparation and examination of 2-22 constituting a systematic study of the chromophore of sandramycin (1) are detailed. Fluorescence quenching studies were used to establish binding constants for 1-24 within calf thymus DNA, within a single high affinity bis-intercalation binding site 5'-d(GCATGC)2, and to establish the preference for sandramycin binding to 5'-d(GCXXGC)2 where XX = AT, TA, GC, and CG. From the latter studies, sandramycin was found to exhibit a preference that follows the order: 5'-d(GCATGC)2 > 5'-d(GCGCGC)2, deltadeltaGo = 0.3kcal/mol > 5'-d(GCTAGC)2, 5'-d(GCCGGC)2, deltadeltaGo = 0.6 kcal/mol although it binds with high affinity to all four deoxyoligonucleotides. The two highest affinity sequences constitute repeating 5'-PuPy motifs with each intercalation event occurring at a 5'-PyPu step. The most effective sequence constitutes the less stable duplex, contains the sterically most accessible minor groove central to the bis-intercalation site, and the ability to accept two gly-NH/TC2 carbonyl H-bonds identified in prior NMR studies. Similarly, the contribution of the individual structural features of the chromophore were assessed with the high affinity duplex sequence 5'-d(GCATGC)2. To a first approximation, the cytotoxic properties were found to parallel trends established in the DNA binding affinities. The exception to this generalization was 4 which lacks the sandramycin chromophore phenol. Although typically 4-10x less potent than sandramycin against leukemia cell lines, it proved to be 1-10,000x more potent against melanomas, carcinomas, and adenocarcinomas exhibiting IC50 values of 1 pM-10 nM placing it among the most potent agents identified to date. Additionally, the first disclosure of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity of sandramycin (1) as well as that of its key analogs are described and define the chromophore structural features required for their exceptional potency. Two analogs, 18 and 3, roughly maintain the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory potency of 1 but exhibit substantially diminished cytotoxic activity (10(2)-10(3)x).

Quantitative nucleic acids footprinting: thermodynamic and kinetic approaches

Quantitative footprinting techniques allow a detailed analysis of the thermodynamic forces that characterize nucleic acid-ligand interactions and ligand-induced changes in nucleic acid structure by separately resolving the intrinsic and cooperative Gibbs free energy changes describing the reactions being investigated. A new implementation of the quantitative footprinting technique is the application of stopped-flow techniques to the study of kinetic reactions.