Antifungal Phenothiazines: Optimization, Characterization of Mechanism, and Modulation of Neuroreceptor Activity.

New classes of antifungal drugs are an urgent unmet clinical need. One approach to the challenge of developing new antifungal drugs is to optimize the antifungal properties of currently used drugs with favorable pharmacologic properties, so-called drug or scaffold repurposing. New therapies for cryptococcal meningitis are particularly important given its worldwide burden of disease and limited therapeutic options.

The Celecoxib Derivative AR-12 Has Broad-Spectrum Antifungal Activity In Vitro and Improves the Activity of Fluconazole in a Murine Model of Cryptococcosis.

Only one new class of antifungal drugs has been introduced into clinical practice in the last 30 years, and thus the identification of small molecules with novel mechanisms of action is an important goal of current anti-infective research. Here, we describe the characterization of the spectrum of in vitro activity and in vivo activity of AR-12, a celecoxib derivative which has been tested in a phase I clinical trial as an anticancer agent. AR-12 inhibits fungal acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) synthetase in vitro and is fungicidal at concentrations similar to those achieved in human plasma.

Complex Haploinsufficiency-Based Genetic Analysis of the NDR/Lats Kinase Cbk1 Provides Insight into Its Multiple Functions in Candida albicans.

Although the analysis of genetic interactions and networks is a powerful approach to understanding biology, it has not been applied widely to the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans Here, we describe the use of both screening and directed genetic interaction studies based on complex haploinsufficiency to probe the function of the R: egulation of A: ce2 and M: orphogenesis (RAM) pathway in C. albicans A library of 5200 Tn7-mutagenized derivatives of a parental strain heterozygous at CBK1, the key kinase in the RAM pathway, was screened for alterations in serum-induced filamentation. Following confirmation of phenotypes and identification of insertion sites by sequencing, a set of 36 unique double heterozygous strains showing complex haploinsufficiency was obtained.

Antitumor/Antifungal Celecoxib Derivative AR-12 is a Non-Nucleoside Inhibitor of the ANL-Family Adenylating Enzyme Acetyl CoA Synthetase.

AR-12/OSU-03012 is an antitumor celecoxib-derivative that has progressed to Phase I clinical trial as an anticancer agent and has activity against a number of infectious agents including fungi, bacteria and viruses. However, the mechanism of these activities has remained unclear. Based on a chemical-genetic profiling approach in yeast, we have found that AR-12 is an ATP-competitive, time-dependent inhibitor of yeast acetyl coenzyme A synthetase.

High-Throughput Screen in Identifies a Novel Molecular Scaffold That Inhibits Cell Wall Integrity Pathway Signaling.

is one of the most important human fungal pathogens; however, no new therapies have been developed in over 50 years. Fungicidal activity is crucially important for an effective anticryptococal agent and, therefore, we screened 361,675 molecules against using an adenylate kinase release assay that specifically detects fungicidal activity. A set of secondary assays narrowed the set of hits to molecules that interfere with fungal cell wall integrity and identified three benzothioureas with low in vitro mammalian toxicity and good in vitro anticryptococcal (minimum inhibitory concentration = 4 μg/mL).

A High Throughput Screening Assay for Anti-Mycobacterial Small Molecules Based on Adenylate Kinase Release as a Reporter of Cell Lysis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is well-established to be one of the most important bacterial pathogens for which new antimicrobial therapies are needed. Herein, we describe the development of a high throughput screening assay for the identification of molecules that are bactericidal against Mycobacteria. The assay utilizes the release of the intracellular enzyme adenylate kinase into the culture medium as a reporter of mycobacterial cell death.

Structure-activity relationships for the antifungal activity of selective estrogen receptor antagonists related to tamoxifen.

Cryptococcosis is one of the most important invasive fungal infections and is a significant contributor to the mortality associated with HIV/AIDS. As part of our program to repurpose molecules related to the selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) tamoxifen as anti-cryptococcal agents, we have explored the structure-activity relationships of a set of structurally diverse SERMs and tamoxifen derivatives. Our data provide the first insights into the structural requirements for the antifungal activity of this scaffold.

Estrogen receptor antagonists are anti-cryptococcal agents that directly bind EF hand proteins and synergize with fluconazole in vivo.

Unlabelled: Cryptococcosis is an infectious disease of global significance for which new therapies are needed. Repurposing previously developed drugs for new indications can expedite the translation of new therapies from bench to beside. Here, we characterized the anti-cryptococcal activity and antifungal mechanism of estrogen receptor antagonists related to the breast cancer drugs tamoxifen and toremifene.

A repurposing approach identifies off-patent drugs with fungicidal cryptococcal activity, a common structural chemotype, and pharmacological properties relevant to the treatment of cryptococcosis.

New, more accessible therapies for cryptococcosis represent an unmet clinical need of global importance. We took a repurposing approach to identify previously developed drugs with fungicidal activity toward Cryptococcus neoformans, using a high-throughput screening assay designed to detect drugs that directly kill fungi. From a set of 1,120 off-patent medications and bioactive molecules, we identified 31 drugs/molecules with fungicidal activity, including 15 drugs for which direct antifungal activity had not previously been reported.

Cryptococcus neoformans phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) ortholog is required for stress tolerance and survival in murine phagocytes.

Cryptococcus neoformans PKH2-01 and PKH2-02 are orthologous to mammalian PDK1 kinase genes. Although orthologs of these kinases have been extensively studied in S. cerevisiae, little is known about their function in pathogenic fungi.

Adenylate kinase release as a high-throughput-screening-compatible reporter of bacterial lysis for identification of antibacterial agents.

Adenylate kinase (AK) is a ubiquitous intracellular enzyme that is released into the extracellular space upon cell lysis. We have shown that AK release serves as a useful reporter of bactericidal agent activity and can be exploited for antimicrobial screening purposes. The AK assay exhibits improved sensitivity over that of growth-based assays and can detect agents that are active against bacteria in clinically relevant growth states that are difficult to screen using conventional approaches, such as small colony variants (SCV) and bacteria within established biofilms.

A novel assay of biofilm antifungal activity reveals that amphotericin B and caspofungin lyse Candida albicans cells in biofilms.

The ability of Candida albicans to form drug-resistant biofilms is an important factor in its contribution to human disease. Assays to identify and characterize molecules with activity against fungal biofilms are crucial for the development of drugs with improved anti-biofilm activity. Here we report the application of an adenylate kinase (AK)-based cytotoxicity assay of fungal cell lysis to the characterization of agents active against C.

Identification, in vitro activity and mode of action of phosphoinositide-dependent-1 kinase inhibitors as antifungal molecules.

Although protein kinases have recently emerged as important drug targets, the anti-infective potential of protein kinase inhibitors has not been developed extensively. We identified the mammalian PDK1 inhibitor KP-372-1 as a potent antifungal molecule with activity against yeast and fungal biofilms using a screening strategy for protein kinase inhibitors that block the cell wall stress response in yeast. Genetic and biochemical studies indicate that KP-372-1 inhibits fungal PDK1 orthologs (Pkh kinases) as part of its mode of action and support a role for Pkh kinases in eisosome assembly.

Extracellular secretion of overexpressed glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked cell wall protein Utr2/Crh2p as a novel protein quality control mechanism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Eukaryotic cells employ a variety of mechanisms to maintain protein quality control and homeostasis. Here we provide evidence that one such mechanism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves the regulated release of excess or misfolded proteins to the extracellular space. The overexpression of an epitope-tagged allele of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked cell wall protein Utr2/Crh2p (Utr2/Crh2-green fluorescent protein [GFP] or -hemagglutinin [HA]) causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the secretion of Crh2-GFP/HA into the extracellular space.

A high-throughput assay of yeast cell lysis for drug discovery and genetic analysis.

The identification of new antifungal molecules is an important goal of current anti-infective research. To achieve this goal, alternatives to traditional growth inhibition-based screening have been developed in recent years. In this study, we describe an assay to detect molecules that disrupt yeast cell integrity by using the release of adenylate kinase (AK) into culture medium as a reporter of yeast cell lysis.

Antifungal activity of tamoxifen: in vitro and in vivo activities and mechanistic characterization.

Tamoxifen (TAM), an estrogen receptor antagonist used primarily to treat breast cancer, has well-recognized antifungal properties, but the activity of TAM has not been fully characterized using standardized (i.e., CLSI) in vitro susceptibility testing, nor has it been demonstrated in an in vivo model of fungal infection.

The unfolded protein response is induced by the cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade and is required for cell wall integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The yeast cell wall is an extracellular structure that is dependent on secretory and membrane proteins for its construction. We investigated the role of protein quality control mechanisms in cell wall integrity and found that the unfolded protein response (UPR) and, to a lesser extent, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD) pathways are required for proper cell wall construction. Null mutation of IRE1, double mutation of ERAD components (hrd1Delta and ubc7Delta) and ire1Delta, or expression of misfolded proteins show phenotypes similar to mutation of cell wall proteins, including hypersensitivity to cell wall-targeted molecules, alterations to cell wall protein layer, decreased cell wall thickness by electron microscopy, and increased cellular aggregation.

A high-throughput screening assay for small molecules that disrupt yeast cell integrity.

Lead compounds for antifungal drug development are urgently needed because invasive fungal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Here, a high-throughput screening assay for small molecules that cause yeast cell lysis is described. The assay is based on the detection of the intracellular enzyme adenylate kinase in the culture medium as a reporter of yeast cell lysis.