Inhibiting Mycobacterium tuberculosis CoaBC by targeting an allosteric site

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 143
• Main Authors: Mendes, Vitor, Green, Simon R, Evans, Joanna C, Hess, Jeannine, Blaszczyk, Michal, Spry, Christina, Bryant, Owain, Cory-Wright, James, Chan, Daniel S-H, Torres, Pedro H M, Wang, Zhe, Nahiyaan, Navid, O'Neill, Sandra, Damerow, Sebastian, Post, John, Bayliss, Tracy, Lynch, Sasha L, Coyne, Anthony G, Ray, Peter C, Abell, Chris, Rhee, Kyu Y, Boshoff, Helena I M, Barry, 3rd, Clifton E, Mizrahi, Valerie, Wyatt, Paul G, Blundell, Tom L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 08.01.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Allosteric properties; Allosteric Regulation - drug effects; Allosteric Site - drug effects; Antitubercular Agents - pharmacology; Antitubercular Agents - therapeutic use; Bacterial Proteins - antagonists & inhibitors; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Bacterial Proteins - ultrastructure; Biosynthesis; Carboxy-Lyases - antagonists & inhibitors; Carboxy-Lyases - genetics; Carboxy-Lyases - metabolism; Carboxy-Lyases - ultrastructure; Coenzyme A; Coenzyme A - biosynthesis; Crystal structure; Crystallography, X-Ray; Depletion; Enzyme Assays; Gene Knockdown Techniques; High-Throughput Screening Assays; Humans; Inhibitors; Metabolic pathways; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Mycobacterium smegmatis; Mycobacterium smegmatis - enzymology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - drug effects; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - enzymology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - genetics; Peptide Synthases - antagonists & inhibitors; Peptide Synthases - genetics; Peptide Synthases - metabolism; Peptide Synthases - ultrastructure; Prokaryotes; Therapeutic targets; Thioesters; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis - drug therapy; Tuberculosis - microbiology
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20224-x

Coenzyme A (CoA) is a fundamental co-factor for all life, involved in numerous metabolic pathways and cellular processes, and its biosynthetic pathway has raised substantial interest as a drug target against multiple pathogens including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The biosynthesis of CoA is performed in five steps, with the second and third steps being catalysed in the vast majority of prokaryotes, including M. tuberculosis, by a single bifunctional protein, CoaBC. Depletion of CoaBC was found to be bactericidal in M. tuberculosis. Here we report the first structure of a full-length CoaBC, from the model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis, describe how it is organised as a dodecamer and regulated by CoA thioesters. A high-throughput biochemical screen focusing on CoaB identified two inhibitors with different chemical scaffolds. Hit expansion led to the discovery of potent and selective inhibitors of M. tuberculosis CoaB, which we show to bind to a cryptic allosteric site within CoaB.