Structure of the d-Cycloserine-Resistant Variant D322N of Alanine Racemase from .

Alanine racemase (Alr) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the racemization of l-alanine to d-alanine. Alr is one of the two targets of the broad-spectrum antibiotic d-cycloserine (DCS), a structural analogue of d-alanine. Despite being an essential component of regimens used to treat multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis for almost seven decades, resistance to DCS has not been observed in patients.

Restoring Tumour Selectivity of the Bioreductive Prodrug PR-104 by Developing an Analogue Resistant to Aerobic Metabolism by Human Aldo-Keto Reductase 1C3.

PR-104 is a phosphate ester pre-prodrug that is converted in vivo to its cognate alcohol, PR-104A, a latent alkylator which forms potent cytotoxins upon bioreduction. Hypoxia selectivity results from one-electron nitro reduction of PR-104A, in which cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) plays an important role. However, PR-104A also undergoes 'off-target' two-electron reduction by human aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3), resulting in activation in oxygenated tissues.

Development and Optimization of Chromosomally-Integrated Fluorescent Reporter Constructs.

resides in the lungs in various lesion types with unique microenvironmental conditions. This diversity is in line with heterogeneous disease progression and divergent drug efficiency. Fluorescent reporter strains can be used to decipher the micromilieu and to guide future treatment regimens.

D-Cycloserine destruction by alanine racemase and the limit of irreversible inhibition.

The broad-spectrum antibiotic D-cycloserine (DCS) is a key component of regimens used to treat multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. DCS, a structural analog of D-alanine, binds to and inactivates two essential enzymes involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis, alanine racemase (Alr) and D-Ala:D-Ala ligase. Inactivation of Alr is thought to proceed via a mechanism-based irreversible route, forming an adduct with the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate cofactor, leading to bacterial death.

Comparative fitness analysis of D-cycloserine resistant mutants reveals both fitness-neutral and high-fitness cost genotypes.

Drug resistant infections represent one of the most challenging medical problems of our time. D-cycloserine is an antibiotic used for six decades without significant appearance and dissemination of antibiotic resistant strains, making it an ideal model compound to understand what drives resistance evasion. We therefore investigated why Mycobacterium tuberculosis fails to become resistant to D-cycloserine.

2-Mercapto-Quinazolinones as Inhibitors of Type II NADH Dehydrogenase and Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Structure-Activity Relationships, Mechanism of Action and Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion Characterization.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( MTb) possesses two nonproton pumping type II NADH dehydrogenase (NDH-2) enzymes which are predicted to be jointly essential for respiratory metabolism. Furthermore, the structure of a closely related bacterial NDH-2 has been reported recently, allowing for the structure-based design of small-molecule inhibitors. Herein, we disclose MTb whole-cell structure-activity relationships (SARs) for a series of 2-mercapto-quinazolinones which target the ndh encoded NDH-2 with nanomolar potencies.

Glutamate Racemase Is the Primary Target of β-Chloro-d-Alanine in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The increasing global prevalence of drug resistance among many leading human pathogens necessitates both the development of antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action and a better understanding of the physiological activities of preexisting clinically effective drugs. Inhibition of peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis and cross-linking has traditionally enjoyed immense success as an antibiotic target in multiple bacterial pathogens, except in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, where it has so far been underexploited. d-Cycloserine, a clinically approved antituberculosis therapeutic, inhibits enzymes within the d-alanine subbranch of the PG-biosynthetic pathway and has been a focus in our laboratory for understanding peptidoglycan biosynthesis inhibition and for drug development in studies of M.

Metabolomics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Enzymes fuel the biochemical activities of all cells. Their substrates and products thus offer a potential window into the physiologic state of a cell. Metabolomics focuses on the global, or systems-level, study of small molecules in a given biological system and thus provided an experimental tool with which to study cellular physiology on a global biochemical scale.

A gain-of-function positive-selection expression plasmid that enables high-efficiency cloning.

Directed enzyme evolution is now a routine approach to improve desirable biocatalytic properties. When only a low-throughput screen is available to detect improved variants from a mutant gene library, it is imperative that cloning efficiency be maximized during library synthesis to avoid wasting effort screening empty plasmids. To achieve this we developed pUCXKT, a gain-of-function positive selection expression vector.

Metabolomic strategies for the identification of new enzyme functions and metabolic pathways.

Recent technological advances in accurate mass spectrometry and data analysis have revolutionized metabolomics experimentation. Activity-based and global metabolomic profiling methods allow simultaneous and rapid screening of hundreds of metabolites from a variety of chemical classes, making them useful tools for the discovery of novel enzymatic activities and metabolic pathways. By using the metabolome of the relevant organism or close species, these methods capitalize on biological relevance, avoiding the assignment of artificial and non-physiological functions.

Metabolomics Reveal d-Alanine:d-Alanine Ligase As the Target of d-Cycloserine in .

Stable isotope-mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomic profiling is a powerful technique for following changes in specific metabolite pool sizes and metabolic flux under various experimental conditions in a test organism or cell type. Here, we use a metabolomics approach to interrogate the mechanism of antibiotic action of d-cycloserine (DCS), a second line antibiotic used in the treatment of multidrug resistant infections. We use doubly labeled C α-carbon-H l-alanine to allow tracking of both alanine racemase and d-alanine:d-alanine ligase activity in challenged with DCS and reveal that d-alanine:d-alanine ligase is more strongly inhibited than alanine racemase at equivalent DCS concentrations.

Reinterpreting the mechanism of inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis D-alanine:D-alanine ligase by D-cycloserine.

d-Cycloserine is a second-line drug approved for use in the treatment of patients infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiologic agent of tuberculosis. The unique mechanism of action of d-cycloserine, compared with those of other clinically employed antimycobacterial agents, represents an untapped and exploitable resource for future rational drug design programs. Here, we show that d-cycloserine is a slow-onset inhibitor of MtDdl and that this behavior is specific to the M.

Creation and screening of a multi-family bacterial oxidoreductase library to discover novel nitroreductases that efficiently activate the bioreductive prodrugs CB1954 and PR-104A.

Two potentially complementary approaches to improve the anti-cancer strategy gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT) are discovery of more efficient prodrug-activating enzymes, and development of more effective prodrugs. Here we demonstrate the utility of a flexible screening system based on the Escherichia coli SOS response to evaluate novel nitroreductase enzymes and prodrugs in concert. To achieve this, a library of 47 candidate genes representing 11 different oxidoreductase families was created and screened to identify the most efficient activators of two different nitroaromatic prodrugs, CB1954 and PR-104A.

Kinetic mechanism and inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis D-alanine:D-alanine ligase by the antibiotic D-cycloserine.

D-cycloserine (DCS) is an antibiotic that is currently used in second-line treatment of tuberculosis. DCS is a structural analogue of D-alanine, and targets two enzymes involved in the cytosolic stages of peptidoglycan synthesis: alanine racemase (Alr) and D-alanine:D-alanine ligase (Ddl). The mechanisms of inhibition of DCS have been well-assessed using Alr and Ddl enzymes from various bacterial species, but little is known regarding the interactions of DCS with the mycobacterial orthologues of these enzymes.