In exploring a growing demand for innovative approaches to tackle emerging and life threatening fungal diseases, we identified long-chain 4-aminoquinoline (4-AQ) derivatives as a new class of anti-virulence agents. For the first time, we demonstrated that 4-AQs effectively prevent filamentation of Candida albicans, a key virulence trait, under multiple triggering conditions. Selected 4-AQ derivatives inhibited filament formation in a zebrafish model of disseminated candidiasis at 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) developed in our laboratory show potent on-target enzyme inhibition but suffer from low activity against Gram-negative bacteria.
Methods: With the aim of improving the antibacterial activity of our compounds against Gram-negative bacteria, we tested them in combination with different efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), a strategy that showed promise in several other classes of antimicrobials. We also investigated the combined effect of NBTIs with ATP-competitive inhibitors of bacterial type II topoisomerases (ACIs), as well as the antibiofilm properties of our compounds and the combination with EPIs against early and mature biofilm.
In this work, we describe an improved series of N-phenylpyrrolamide inhibitors that exhibit potent activity against DNA gyrase and are highly effective against high-priority gram-positive bacteria. The most potent compounds show low nanomolar IC values against Escherichia coli DNA gyrase, and in addition, compound 7c also inhibits E. coli topoisomerase IV in the nanomolar concentration range, making it a promising candidate for the development of potent dual inhibitors for these enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based approach was employed to optimize the production of electrospun scaffolds for in vivo wound healing applications. By combining polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in various concentration ratios, dissolved in chloroform (CHCl) and dimethylformamide (DMF), 125 different polymer combinations were created. From these polymer combinations, electrospun nanofiber meshes were produced and characterized structurally and mechanically via microscopic techniques, including chemical composition and fiber diameter determination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNovel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) are new promising antimicrobials for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In recent years, many new NBTIs have been discovered, however most of them struggle with the same issue - the balance between antibacterial activity and hERG-related toxicity. We started a new campaign by optimizing the previous series of NBTIs, followed by the design and synthesis of a new, amide-containing focused NBTI library to reduce hERG inhibition and maintain antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF