Structural Insights Lead to a Negamycin Analogue with Improved Antimicrobial Activity against Gram-Negative Pathogens

• Published in: ACS medicinal chemistry letters Vol. 6; no. 8; pp. 930 - 935
• Main Authors: McKinney, David C, Basarab, Gregory S, Cocozaki, Alexis I, Foulk, Melinda A, Miller, Matthew D, Ruvinsky, Anatoly M, Scott, Clay W, Thakur, Kumar, Zhao, Liang, Buurman, Ed T, Narayan, Sridhar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: WASHINGTON American Chemical Society 13.08.2015; Amer Chemical Soc
• Subjects: Chemistry, Medicinal; Letter; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Science & Technology; ribosome; Antibacterial; negamycin; natural product; Gram-negative; ANTIBIOTICS; RNA; PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA; ESCHERICHIA-COLI; EFFLUX PUMPS; TERMINATION; PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS
• ISSN: 1948-5875; 1948-5875
• DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.5b00205

Negamycin is a natural product with antibacterial activity against a broad range of Gram-negative pathogens. Recent revelation of its ribosomal binding site and mode of inhibition has reinvigorated efforts to identify improved analogues with clinical potential. Translation-inhibitory potency and antimicrobial activity upon modification of different moieties of negamycin were in line with its observed ribosomal binding conformation, reaffirming stringent structural requirements for activity. However, substitutions on the N6 amine were tolerated and led to N6-(3-aminopropyl)-negamycin (31f), an analogue showing 4-fold improvement in antibacterial activity against key bacterial pathogens. This represents the most potent negamycin derivative to date and may be a stepping stone toward clinical development of this novel antibacterial class.