Chemogenomic profiling to understand the antifungal action of a bioactive aurone compound

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 11;14(12):e0226068. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226068. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Every year, more than 250,000 invasive candidiasis infections are reported with 50,000 deaths worldwide. The limited number of antifungal agents necessitates the need for alternative antifungals with potential novel targets. The 2-benzylidenebenzofuran-3-(2H)-ones have become an attractive scaffold for antifungal drug design. This study aimed to determine the antifungal activity of a synthetic aurone compound and characterize its mode of action. Using the broth microdilution method, aurone SH1009 exhibited inhibition against C. albicans, including resistant isolates, as well as C. glabrata, and C. tropicalis with IC50 values of 4-29 μM. Cytotoxicity assays using human THP-1, HepG2, and A549 human cell lines showed selective toxicity toward fungal cells. The mode of action for SH1009 was characterized using chemical-genetic interaction via haploinsufficiency (HIP) and homozygous (HOP) profiling of a uniquely barcoded Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant collection. Approximately 5300 mutants were competitively treated with SH1009 followed by DNA extraction, amplification of unique barcodes, and quantification of each mutant using multiplexed next-generation sequencing. Barcode post-sequencing analysis revealed 238 sensitive and resistant mutants that significantly (FDR P values ≤ 0.05) responded to aurone SH1009. The enrichment analysis of KEGG pathways and gene ontology demonstrated the cell cycle pathway as the most significantly enriched pathway along with DNA replication, cell division, actin cytoskeleton organization, and endocytosis. Phenotypic studies of these significantly enriched responses were validated in C. albicans. Flow cytometric analysis of SH1009-treated C. albicans revealed a significant accumulation of cells in G1 phase, indicating cell cycle arrest. Fluorescence microscopy detected abnormally interrupted actin dynamics, resulting in enlarged, unbudded cells. RT-qPCR confirmed the effects of SH1009 in differentially expressed cell cycle, actin polymerization, and signal transduction genes. These findings indicate the target of SH1009 as a cell cycle-dependent organization of the actin cytoskeleton, suggesting a novel mode of action of the aurone compound as an antifungal inhibitor.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actin Cytoskeleton / drug effects
  • Antifungal Agents / chemistry
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Benzofurans / chemistry
  • Benzofurans / pharmacology*
  • Candida albicans / drug effects*
  • Candida albicans / genetics
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal / genetics
  • G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects
  • Gene Ontology
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / drug effects
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / growth & development

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Benzofurans
  • aurone

Grants and funding

This research was supported in part by the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research and the Molecular Biosciences Program at Middle Tennessee State University. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.