UDP-N-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvyl transferase (MurA) is an enzyme that participates in the first committed step in the synthesis of the essential bacterial cell wall building block – peptidoglycan. Because of its absence in human body, the enzyme represents an interesting and already validated target for antibacterial agents. The antibacterial agent fosfomycin is currently the only known MurA inhibitor used in clinical practice. As with many antibacterials, the bacterial resistance to fosfomycin is already present. This only highlights the importance for the discovery of new bactericidal inhibitors acting on the intercellular stages of peptidoglycan synthesis.
In this master thesis, around 100 compounds with different biochemical assays were evaluated. Compounds were acquired from various sources. Most of them were small electrophilic fragments, which were tested for their ability to inhibit MurA enzyme and whether their action of inhibition was covalent. The main aim of this master thesis was the determination of suitable compounds for further investigation and optimization into potential antibacterial agents.
Residual activity lower than 50% was determined for around 70 compounds. Those compounds were eligible for determination of IC50 value. The most potent compound according to IC50 value is compound 51, 4-nitrobenzene-1-thiol with IC50 value of 0,125 ?M. The irreversible mode of action was tested through time dependency and dilution assay. 14 compounds showed potential irreversible inhibition mode. We evaluated part of the compounds (29 – 52) with kinetic parameters characteristic for irreversible inhibitors. The evaluation was unsuccessful due to high reactivity of the compounds. Fragments that did not indicate any features of irreversible action, the mode of binding to enzyme was determined with reversible enzyme kinetics and reaction rates. Compound 36 indicated competitive reversible binding mode. Compounds 53 – 101 were not evaluated with kinetic constants, but we still managed to determine compounds 58, 59, 60, 64, 85 and 90 as most promising for further investigation of irreversible binding mode.
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