Antimicrobial Activity of Adenine-Based Inhibitors of NAD(+)-Dependent DNA Ligase

Synthesis and Antimicrobial, Antiplatelet, and Anticoagulant Activities of New Isatin Deivatives Containing a Hetero-Fused Imidazole Fragment

A series of isatin derivatives containing an adenine or theophylline fragment have been synthesized. The corresponding N′-[2-(trimethylammonio)acetyl] and N′-(2-pyridinioacetyl) hydrazones have been found to exhibit neither cytotoxicity nor hemotoxicity. Quaternary salts based on adenine derivatives of 5-methyl- and 5-ethylisatins showed the highest antiplatelet activity which exceeded the activity of acetylsalicylic acid by a factor of 1.5.

Identification of Novel Inhibitors of Escherichia coli DNA Ligase (LigA)

Present in all organisms, DNA ligases catalyse the formation of a phosphodiester bond between a 3' hydroxyl and a 5' phosphate, a reaction that is essential for maintaining genome integrity during replication and repair. Eubacterial DNA ligases use NAD⁺ as a cofactor and possess low sequence and structural homology relative to eukaryotic DNA ligases which use ATP as a cofactor. These key differences enable specific targeting of bacterial DNA ligases as an antibacterial strategy. In this study, four small molecule accessible sites within functionally important regions of Escherichia coli ligase (EC-LigA) were identified using in silico methods. Molecular docking was then used to screen for small molecules predicted to bind to these sites. Eight candidate inhibitors were then screened for inhibitory activity in an in vitro ligase assay. Five of these (geneticin, chlorhexidine, glutathione (reduced), imidazolidinyl urea and 2-(aminomethyl)imidazole) showed dose-dependent inhibition of EC-LigA with half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) in the micromolar to millimolar range (11-2600 µM). Two (geneticin and chlorhexidine) were predicted to bind to a region of EC-LigA that has not been directly investigated previously, raising the possibility that there may be amino acids within this region that are important for EC-LigA activity or that the function of essential residues proximal to this region are impacted by inhibitor interactions with this region. We anticipate that the identified small molecule binding sites and inhibitors could be pursued as part of an antibacterial strategy targeting bacterial DNA ligases.

Unraveling the conformational dynamics of glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent enzyme of Leishmania mexicana

Allosteric changes modulate the enzymatic activity, leading to activation or inhibition of the molecular target. Understanding the induced fit accommodation mechanism of a ligand in its lowest-free energy state and the subsequent conformational changes induced in the protein are important questions for drug design. In the present study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy calculations, and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to analyze the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of Leishmania mexicana (LmGPDH) conformational changes induced by its cofactor and substrate binding. GPDH is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent enzyme, which has been reported as an interesting target for drug discovery and development against leishmaniasis. Despite its relevance for glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways, the structural flexibility and conformational motions of LmGPDH in complex with NADH and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) remain unexplored. Here, we analyzed the conformational dynamics of the enzyme-NADH complex (cofactor), and the enzyme-NADH-DHAP complex (adduct), mapped the hydrogen-bond interactions for the complexes and pointed some structural determinants of the enzyme that emerge from these contacts to NADH and DHAP. Finally, we proposed a consistent mechanism for the conformational changes on the first step of the reversible redox conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to glycerol 3-phosphate, indicating key residues and interactions that could be further explored in drug discovery.

Targeting DNA Replication and Repair for the Development of Novel Therapeutics against Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiological agent of tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which results in approximately 10 million incident cases and 1.4 million deaths globally each year, making it the leading cause of mortality from infection. An effective frontline combination chemotherapy exists for TB; however, this regimen requires the administration of four drugs in a 2 month long intensive phase followed by a continuation phase of a further 4 months with two of the original drugs, and is only effective for the treatment of drug-sensitive TB. The emergence and global spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) as well as extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of M. tuberculosis, and the complications posed by co-infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other co-morbidities such as diabetes, have prompted urgent efforts to develop shorter regimens comprising new compounds with novel mechanisms of action. This demands that researchers re-visit cellular pathways and functions that are essential to M. tuberculosis survival and replication in the host but which are inadequately represented amongst the targets of current anti-mycobacterial agents. Here, we consider the DNA replication and repair machinery as a source of new targets for anti-TB drug development. Like most bacteria, M. tuberculosis encodes a complex array of proteins which ensure faithful and accurate replication and repair of the chromosomal DNA. Many of these are essential; so, too, are enzymes in the ancillary pathways of nucleotide biosynthesis, salvage, and re-cycling, suggesting the potential to inhibit replication and repair functions at multiple stages. To this end, we provide an update on the state of chemotherapeutic inhibition of DNA synthesis and related pathways in M. tuberculosis. Given the established links between genotoxicity and mutagenesis, we also consider the potential implications of targeting DNA metabolic pathways implicated in the development of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis, an organism which is unusual in relying exclusively on de novo mutations and chromosomal rearrangements for evolution, including the acquisition of drug resistance. In that context, we conclude by discussing the feasibility of targeting mutagenic pathways in an ancillary, “anti-evolution” strategy aimed at protecting existing and future TB drugs.

Modeling the Kinetics of the Permeation of Antibacterial Agents into Growing Bacteria and Its Interplay with Efflux

A mathematical model of the passive permeation of a novel solute into bacteria that explicitly accounts for intracellular dilution through growth was developed. A bacterial cell envelope permeability coefficient of approximately >10^-8 cm² · s^-1 is predicted to ensure passive permeation into rapidly replicating bacterial cells. The relative importance of the permeability coefficients of the cytoplasmic and outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria in determining the overall envelope permeability coefficient was analyzed quantitatively. A mathematical description of the balance between passive influx and active efflux was also developed and shows that bacterial expansion through growth can usually be neglected for compounds likely to be prepared in antibacterial drug discovery programs and the balance between passive inward permeation and active outwardly directed efflux predominates. A new parameter, efflux efficiency (η, where η is equal to k/P, in which k is the rate coefficient for the efflux pump and P is the permeability coefficient for the membrane across which the pump acts), is introduced, and the consequences for the efficiency of efflux pumping by a single pump, two pumps in parallel across either the cytoplasmic or the outer membrane, and two pumps in series, one across the cytoplasmic membrane and one across the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, are explored. The results, showing additive efficiency for two pumps acting across a single membrane and multiplicative efficiency for two pumps acting in series across the cytoplasmic and outer membranes, can be quantitatively related to the ratios between MICs measured against pump-sufficient and pump deletion strains and agree with those of previous experimental and theoretical studies.

Naphthalimides Selectively Inhibit the Activity of Bacterial, Replicative DNA Ligases and Display Bactericidal Effects against Tubercle Bacilli

The DNA ligases, enzymes that seal breaks in the backbones of DNA, are essential for all organisms, however bacterial ligases essential for DNA replication use β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as their co-factor, whereas those that are essential in eukaryotes and viruses use adenosine-5'-triphosphate. This fact leads to the conclusion that NAD⁺-dependent DNA ligases in bacteria could be targeted by their co-factor specific inhibitors. The development of novel alternative medical strategies, including new drugs, are a top priority focus areas for tuberculosis research due to an increase in the number of multi-drug resistant as well as totally drug resistant tubercle bacilli strains. Here, through the use of a virtual high-throughput screen and manual inspection of the top 200 records, 23 compounds were selected for in vitro studies. The selected compounds were evaluated in respect to their Mycobacterium tuberculosis NAD⁺ DNA ligase inhibitory effect by a newly developed assay based on Genetic Analyzer 3500 Sequencer. The most effective agents (e.g., pinafide, mitonafide) inhibited the activity of M. tuberculosis NAD⁺-dependent DNA ligase A at concentrations of 50 µM. At the same time, the ATP-dependent (phage) DNA LigT₄ was unaffected by the agents at concentrations up to 2 mM. The selected compounds appeared to also be active against actively growing tubercle bacilli in concentrations as low as 15 µM.

Biochemical and Structural Characterisation of DNA Ligases from Bacteria and Archaea

DNA ligases are enzymes that seal breaks in the backbones of DNA, leading to them being essential for the survival of all organisms. DNA ligases have been studied from many different types of cells and organisms and shown to have diverse sizes and sequences, with well conserved specific sequences that are required for enzymatic activity. A significant number of DNA ligases have been isolated or prepared in recombinant forms and, here, we review their biochemical and structural characterisation. All DNA ligases contain an essential lysine that transfers an adenylate group from a co-factor to the 5'-phosphate of the DNA end that will ultimately be joined to the 3'-hydroxyl of the neighbouring DNA strand. The essential DNA ligases in bacteria use nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ( β -NAD+) as their co-factor whereas those that are essential in other cells use adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) as their co-factor. This observation suggests that the essential bacterial enzyme could be targeted by novel antibiotics and the complex molecular structure of β -NAD+ affords multiple opportunities for chemical modification. Several recent studies have synthesised novel derivatives and their biological activity against a range of DNA ligases has been evaluated as inhibitors for drug discovery and/or non-natural substrates for biochemical applications. Here, we review the recent advances that herald new opportunities to alter the biochemical activities of these important enzymes. The recent development of modified derivatives of nucleotides highlights that the continued combination of structural, biochemical and biophysical techniques will be useful in targeting these essential cellular enzymes.

Design, synthesis and anticancer activity of dihydropyrimidinone–semicarbazone hybrids as potential human DNA ligase 1 inhibitors

A series of rationally designed new class of hLig1 inhibitors with potentin vitroanti-cancer properties is presented.

Base-modified NAD and AMP derivatives and their activity against bacterial DNA ligases

We report the chemical synthesis and conformational analysis of a collection of 2-, 6- and 8-substituted derivatives of β-NAD(+) and AMP, and their biochemical evaluation against NAD(+)-dependent DNA ligases from Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bacterial DNA ligases are validated anti-microbial targets, and new strategies for their inhibition are therefore of considerable scientific and practical interest. Our study includes several pairs of β-NAD(+) and AMP derivatives with the same substitution pattern at the adenine base. This has enabled the first direct comparison of co-substrate and inhibitor behaviour against bacterial DNA ligases. Our results suggest that an additional substituent in position 6 or 8 of the adenine base in β-NAD(+) is detrimental for activity as either co-substrate or inhibitor. In contrast, substituents in position 2 are not only tolerated, but appear to give rise to a new mode of inhibition, which targets the conformational changes these DNA ligases undergo during catalysis. Using a molecular modelling approach, we highlight that these findings have important implications for our understanding of ligase mechanism and inhibition, and may provide a promising starting point for the rational design of a new class of inhibitors against NAD(+)-dependent DNA ligases.