Antibacterial drug resistance has increased in recent years. An increasing number of deaths from previously curable diseases is expected in the future. The problem is that investment in research and development of new antibacterial agents is far from attractive for the pharmaceutical industry, as the return on investment of such drugs is very low compared to drugs for long-term treatment of chronic diseases.
New agents with novel mechanisms of action play an important role in slowing the development of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents. One possible approach is to inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. These two enzymes play key roles in the processes of unwinding and uncoiling the DNA double strand by facilitating the twisting and movement of this chain, which affects DNA replication, transcription, and recombination in bacteria. Both enzymes have a similar structure, so the same antibacterial agent can inhibit both enzymes simultaneously.
Our goal was to investigate new inhibitors of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV conjugated to siderophore mimetics using computational methods such as docking and molecular dynamics simulations. These conjugates inhibit the activity of both enzymes by binding to the ATP-binding site of both enzymes, resulting in an antibacterial effect. Siderophore mimetics possibly enhance uptake into bacterial cells, thus enhancing antibacterial activity. Because inhibitors of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV retain potent enzyme inhibitory activity when a siderophore mimetic is included in the structure, we were interested to see if the siderophore mimetic forms additional interactions in the binding site. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the siderophore mimetic forms additional hydrogen bonds and π-π interactions in the binding site of both DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, which could contribute to the strong inhibitory activity of the investigated compound LMD-266.
The results of the master's thesis make an important contribution to the further development of potential antibacterial agents. The compound strongly inhibits DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and exhibits potent antibacterial activity, which warrants further development of compounds of this type.
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