Antibacterial effects of esters of guanidino- and amidino-acids trypsin inhibitors.

Inhibitory effects of various esters of trans-4-guanidinomethylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid and the 4-tert- butylphenyl esters of amidinopiperidine-4-alkanoic, trans-4- amidinocyclohexanealkanoic, trans-4-guanidinoethylcyclohexanecarboxylic and trans-4-guanidinocyclohexanealkanoic acids, all trypsin inhibitors, on the growth of E. coli, B. subtilis, S. aureus and S. epidermidis were examined. 4-tert-Butylphenyl esters strongly inhibited the growth of E. coli and the order of the inhibitory effects correlated with that for the inhibitory effects on proteinase In, which appears immediately before initiation of DNA synthesis in E. coli and closely correlates with the onset of DNA synthesis. No correlation was observed between the inhibitory effects and Ki values for trypsin. The 4-tert-butylphenyl esters also strongly inhibited B. subtilis, S. aureus and S. epidermidis, and the order, of the inhibitory effects on these bacteria roughly coincided with that on E. coli. The order of the inhibitory effects of each ester, on these bacteria was S. epidermidis > S. aureus > B. subtilis > E. coli. Among the esters examined, the biphenyl ester of trans-4-guanidinoethylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid was the most inhibitory on these four bacteria and proteinase In. Hydrolysis of tert-butyloxycarbonyl-L-valyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine 4-methylcoumarin-7-amide, which is a substrate for proteinase In, in crude extracts of E. coli, B. subtilis and S. epidermidis was examined. The order of this activity in these bacteria was E. coli > B. subtilis > S. epidermidis.