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Bender KO, Garland M, Ferreyra JA, Hryckowian AJ, Child MA, Puri AW, Solow-Cordero DE, Higginbottom SK, Segal E, Banaei N, Shen A, Sonnenburg JL, Bogyo M. A small-molecule antivirulence agent for treating Clostridium difficile infection. Sci Transl Med 2015; 7:306ra148. [PMID: 26400909 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aac9103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2015] [Accepted: 09/04/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a worldwide health threat that is typically triggered by the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which disrupt the natural gut microbiota and allow this Gram-positive anaerobic pathogen to thrive. The increased incidence and severity of disease coupled with decreased response, high recurrence rates, and emergence of multiple antibiotic-resistant strains have created an urgent need for new therapies. We describe pharmacological targeting of the cysteine protease domain (CPD) within the C. difficile major virulence factor toxin B (TcdB). Through a targeted screen with an activity-based probe for this protease domain, we identified a number of potent CPD inhibitors, including one bioactive compound, ebselen, which is currently in human clinical trials for a clinically unrelated indication. This drug showed activity against both major virulence factors, TcdA and TcdB, in biochemical and cell-based studies. Treatment in a mouse model of CDI that closely resembles the human infection confirmed a therapeutic benefit in the form of reduced disease pathology in host tissues that correlated with inhibition of the release of the toxic glucosyltransferase domain (GTD). Our results show that this non-antibiotic drug can modulate the pathology of disease and therefore could potentially be developed as a therapeutic for the treatment of CDI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Oresic Bender
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA
| | - Megan Garland
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA
| | - Jessica A Ferreyra
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124, USA
| | - Andrew J Hryckowian
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124, USA
| | - Matthew A Child
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA
| | - Aaron W Puri
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA
| | - David E Solow-Cordero
- Stanford University High-Throughput Bioscience Center, 1291 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305-5174, USA
| | - Steven K Higginbottom
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124, USA
| | - Ehud Segal
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA
| | - Niaz Banaei
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA. Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5107, USA
| | - Aimee Shen
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Justin L Sonnenburg
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124, USA
| | - Matthew Bogyo
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305-5324, USA. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5124, USA.
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Zhu H, Swierstra J, Wu C, Girard G, Choi YH, van Wamel W, Sandiford SK, van Wezel GP. Eliciting antibiotics active against the ESKAPE pathogens in a collection of actinomycetes isolated from mountain soils. MICROBIOLOGY-SGM 2014; 160:1714-1725. [PMID: 24794971 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.078295-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens poses a major threat for human health. In recent years, genome sequencing has unveiled many poorly expressed antibiotic clusters in actinomycetes. Here, we report a well-defined ecological collection of >800 actinomycetes obtained from sites in the Himalaya and Qinling mountains, and we used these in a concept study to see how efficiently antibiotics can be elicited against MDR pathogens isolated recently from the clinic. Using 40 different growth conditions, 96 actinomycetes were identified - predominantly Streptomyces - that produced antibiotics with efficacy against the MDR clinical isolates referred to as ESKAPE pathogens: Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and/or Enterobacter cloacae. Antimicrobial activities that fluctuated strongly with growth conditions were correlated with specific compounds, including borrelidin, resistomycin, carbomethoxy-phenazine, and 6,7,8- and 5,6,8-trimethoxy-3-methylisocoumarin, of which the latter was not described previously. Our work provided insights into the potential of actinomycetes as producers of drugs with efficacy against clinical isolates that have emerged recently and also underlined the importance of targeting a specific pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua Zhu
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Jasper Swierstra
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Changsheng Wu
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Geneviève Girard
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Young Hae Choi
- Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Willem van Wamel
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie K Sandiford
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Gilles P van Wezel
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
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