A promising strategy in the fight against bacterial resistance is the development of multi-target inhibitors of bacterial enzymes. With the mentioned strategy the ability of bacteria to develop target-based resistance against antibacterial agents can be reduced. One of the attractive targets for the development of antibacterial agents is bacterial enzyme DNA gyrase, which consists of two DNA gyrase A subunits and two DNA gyrase B subunits. The enzyme belongs to type IIA topoisomerases which are enzymes that regulate the topology of DNA molecule during replication.
We designed and synthesized a new series of five conjugates between DNA gyrase A inhibitor ciprofloxacin and benzothiazolepyrrolamide-based DNA gyrase B inhibitor: 2-(3,4-dichloro-5-methyl-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxamido)benzo[d]thiazole-6-carboxylic acid or a DNA gyrase B inhibitor with added benzyloxy fragment, 4-(benzyloxy)-2-(3,4-dichloro-5-methyl-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxamido)benzo[d]thiazole-6-carboxylic acid. With the exception of the direct conjugate, DNA gyrase A and DNA gyrase B inhibitors were linked via various linkers (glycine, β-alanine, ether) at the C7 piperazine of ciprofloxacin. In an enzyme assay we evaluated the inhibitory activity of the final compounds against DNA gyrase from Escherichia coli, for the most active compound also from Staphylococcus aureus. We also determined their antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive, five Gram-negative bacterial strains and three additional E. coli strains: wild-type strain and two mutated bacterial strains. The most active compound of the synthesized series was compound 25 with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 14 ± 9 nM against DNA gyrase from E. coli and an IC50 value of 1.09 µM against DNA gyrase from S. aureus. It contains a DNA gyrase B inhibitor with added benzyloxy fragment and it is connected to ciprofloxacin through an ether linker. The most potent antibacterial activity was displayed by compound 12 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 0.5-4 µg/mL against Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli and Enterobacter cloacae spp. cloacae and with the MIC value of 16 µg/mL against Enterococcus faecalis.
With the synthesized compounds we reached activity against both subunits of DNA gyrase since the compounds are active against resistant strains that carry mutations either at subunit DNA gyrase A or DNA gyrase B. The results of the master's thesis provide important information for the discovery of new dual-targeting inhibitors that inhibit both subunits of DNA gyrase and thereby reducing the probability for the development of bacterial resistance.
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