Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to our society from both the medical and economic point of view, while the antibiotic discovery pipeline has been dwindling over the last decades. Targeting non-essential bacterial pathways, such as those leading to antibiotic persistence, a bacterial bet-hedging strategy, will lead to new molecular entities displaying low selective pressure, thereby reducing the insurgence of AMR. Here, we describe a way to target (p)ppGpp (guanosine tetra- or penta-phosphate) signaling, a non-essential pathway involved in the formation of persisters, with a structure-based approach. A superfamily of enzymes called RSH (RelA/SpoT Homolog) regulates the intracellular levels of this alarmone. We virtually screened several fragment libraries against the (p)ppGpp synthetase domain of our RSH chosen model RelSeq, selected three main chemotypes, and measured their interaction with RelSeq by thermal shift assay and STD-NMR. Most of the tested fragments are selective for the synthetase domain, allowing us to select the aminobenzoic acid scaffold as a hit for lead development.

New Chemotypes for the Inhibition of (p)ppGpp Synthesis in the Quest for New Antimicrobial Compounds / C. Coppa, L. Sorrentino, M. Civera, M. Minneci, F. Vasile, S. Sattin. - In: MOLECULES. - ISSN 1420-3049. - 27:10(2022 May 12), pp. 3097.1-3097.12. [10.3390/molecules27103097]

New Chemotypes for the Inhibition of (p)ppGpp Synthesis in the Quest for New Antimicrobial Compounds

C. Coppa;L. Sorrentino;M. Civera;M. Minneci;F. Vasile;S. Sattin
2022

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to our society from both the medical and economic point of view, while the antibiotic discovery pipeline has been dwindling over the last decades. Targeting non-essential bacterial pathways, such as those leading to antibiotic persistence, a bacterial bet-hedging strategy, will lead to new molecular entities displaying low selective pressure, thereby reducing the insurgence of AMR. Here, we describe a way to target (p)ppGpp (guanosine tetra- or penta-phosphate) signaling, a non-essential pathway involved in the formation of persisters, with a structure-based approach. A superfamily of enzymes called RSH (RelA/SpoT Homolog) regulates the intracellular levels of this alarmone. We virtually screened several fragment libraries against the (p)ppGpp synthetase domain of our RSH chosen model RelSeq, selected three main chemotypes, and measured their interaction with RelSeq by thermal shift assay and STD-NMR. Most of the tested fragments are selective for the synthetase domain, allowing us to select the aminobenzoic acid scaffold as a hit for lead development.
AMR; persisters; (p)ppGpp; fragment screening; thermal shift assay; STD-NMR;
Settore CHIM/06 - Chimica Organica
   Eradicating Chronic Infections
   ERACHRON
   EUROPEAN COMMISSION
   H2020
   758108
12-mag-2022
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/927648
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