Spermine-Conjugated Short Proline-Rich Lipopeptides as Broad-Spectrum Intracellular Targeting Antibacterial Agents

J Med Chem. 2022 Apr 14;65(7):5433-5448. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01809. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Abstract

Toward the design of new proline-rich peptidomimetics, a short peptide segment, present in several proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), was selected. Fatty acids of varying lengths and spermine were conjugated at the N- and C-terminals of the peptide, respectively. Spermine-conjugated lipopeptides, C10-PR-Spn and C12-PR-Spn, exhibited minimum inhibitory concentrations within 1.5-6.2 μM against the tested pathogens including resistant bacteria and insignificant hemolytic activity against human red blood cells up to 100 μM concentrations and demonstrated resistance against trypsin digestion. C10-PR-Spn and C12-PR-Spn showed synergistic antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with several tested antibiotics. These lipopeptides did not permeabilize bacterial membrane-mimetic lipid vesicles or damage the Escherichia coli membrane like the nonmembrane-lytic AMP, buforin-II. The results suggested that C10-PR-Spn and C12-PR-Spn could interact with the 70S ribosome of E. coli and inhibit its protein synthesis. C10-PR-Spn and C12-PR-Spn demonstrated superior clearance of bacteria from the spleen, liver, and kidneys of mice, infected with S. aureus ATCC 25923 compared to levofloxacin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacteria
  • Escherichia coli
  • Lipopeptides* / chemistry
  • Lipopeptides* / pharmacology
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*
  • Mice
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Proline / chemistry
  • Spermine / pharmacology
  • Staphylococcus aureus

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Lipopeptides
  • Spermine
  • Proline