Rational Design, Synthesis, and Preliminary Structure-Activity Relationships of α-Substituted-2-Phenylcyclopropane Carboxylic Acids as Inhibitors of Salmonella typhimurium O-Acetylserine Sulfhydrylase

J Med Chem. 2016 Mar 24;59(6):2567-78. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01775. Epub 2016 Mar 2.

Abstract

Cysteine is a building block for several biomolecules that are crucial for living organisms. The last step of cysteine biosynthesis is catalyzed by O-acetylserine sulfydrylase (OASS), a highly conserved pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme, present in different isoforms in bacteria, plants, and nematodes, but absent in mammals. Beside the biosynthesis of cysteine, OASS exerts a series of "moonlighting" activities in bacteria, such as transcriptional regulation, contact-dependent growth inhibition, swarming motility, and induction of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the discovery of molecules capable of inhibiting OASS would be a valuable tool to unravel how this protein affects the physiology of unicellular organisms. As a continuation of our efforts toward the synthesis of OASS inhibitors, in this work we have used a combination of computational and spectroscopic approaches to rationally design, synthesize, and test a series of substituted 2-phenylcyclopropane carboxylic acids that bind to the two S. typhymurium OASS isoforms at nanomolar concentrations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemical synthesis*
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Carboxylic Acids / chemical synthesis*
  • Carboxylic Acids / pharmacology*
  • Cyclopropanes / chemical synthesis*
  • Cyclopropanes / pharmacology*
  • Cysteine Synthase / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / drug effects
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics
  • Isoenzymes / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Binding
  • Pyridoxal Phosphate / chemistry
  • Salmonella typhimurium / drug effects*
  • Salmonella typhimurium / enzymology*
  • Salmonella typhimurium / growth & development
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Carboxylic Acids
  • Cyclopropanes
  • Isoenzymes
  • Pyridoxal Phosphate
  • Cysteine Synthase