Optimization and Mechanistic Characterization of Pyridopyrimidine Inhibitors of Bacterial Biotin Carboxylase

J Med Chem. 2019 Aug 22;62(16):7489-7505. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00625. Epub 2019 Aug 9.

Abstract

A major challenge for new antibiotic discovery is predicting the physicochemical properties that enable small molecules to permeate Gram-negative bacterial membranes. We have applied physicochemical lessons from previous work to redesign and improve the antibacterial potency of pyridopyrimidine inhibitors of biotin carboxylase (BC) by up to 64-fold and 16-fold against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. Antibacterial and enzyme potency assessments in the presence of an outer membrane-permeabilizing agent or in efflux-compromised strains indicate that penetration and efflux properties of many redesigned BC inhibitors could be improved to various extents. Spontaneous resistance to the improved pyridopyrimidine inhibitors in P. aeruginosa occurs at very low frequencies between 10-8 and 10-9. However, resistant isolates had alarmingly high minimum inhibitory concentration shifts (16- to >128-fold) compared to the parent strain. Whole-genome sequencing of resistant isolates revealed that either BC target mutations or efflux pump overexpression can lead to the development of high-level resistance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane / drug effects
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane / metabolism
  • Bacterial Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / genetics
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / metabolism
  • Chemical Phenomena
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / drug effects
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects*
  • Escherichia coli / enzymology
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Models, Chemical
  • Molecular Structure
  • Mutation
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / enzymology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / genetics

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases
  • biotin carboxylase