d‐ amino carboxamide‐based recruitment of dinitrophenol antibodies to bacterial surfaces via peptidoglycan remodeling

During the past few decades there has been a rapid emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria afflicting human patients. At the same time, reduced output from pharmaceutical industry in this area precipitated a sharp decrease in the approval of new antibiotics. The combination of these factors potentially compromises the ability to effectively combat bacterial infections. While traditional drug discovery efforts continue in the pursuit of small molecule agents that disrupt bacterial growth, non‐traditional efforts could serve to complement antimicrobial strategies. We recently demonstrated our ability to remodel the surface of bacterial cells using unnatural d ‐amino acids displaying the antigenic dinitrophenyl (DNP) handle. These immune stimulant d ‐amino acids derivatives were metabolically incorporated onto the peptidoglycan of bacteria via a promiscuous surface‐anchored transpeptidase. The covalent modification of DNP moieties onto the peptidoglycan led to the anti‐DNP antibody opsonization of the bacterial cell surface. Herein, we show that the amidation of the C‐terminus to generate DNP‐displaying d ‐amino carboxamide drastically improves antibody recruitment. Antibody opsonization using the d ‐amino carboxamide agent is observed at lower concentrations than the d ‐amino acid counterpart. In addition, the recruitment of endogenous antibodies in pooled human serum to the DNP‐modified bacterial cell surface is demonstrated for the first time. We envision that the C‐terminus amidation of DNP‐conjugated d ‐amino acids could potentially facilitate translation of these results to in vivo animal disease models. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 104: 351–359, 2015.