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Discovery and structural characterization of an allosteric inhibitor of bacterial c is ‐prenyltransferase
Author(s) -
Danley Dennis E.,
Baima Eric T.,
Mansour Mahmoud,
Fennell Kimberly F.,
Chrunyk Boris A.,
Mueller John P.,
Liu Shenping,
Qiu Xiayang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.2579
Subject(s) - allosteric regulation , prenyltransferase , farnesyl pyrophosphate , pyrophosphate , chemistry , active site , enzyme , stereochemistry , isopentenyl pyrophosphate , streptococcus pneumoniae , drug discovery , biochemistry , mevalonate pathway , thermotoga maritima , atp synthase , prenylation , biosynthesis , antibiotics , escherichia coli , gene
Undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase (UPPs) is an essential enzyme in a key bacterial cell wall synthesis pathway. It catalyzes the consecutive condensations of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) groups on to a trans‐farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) to produce a C55 isoprenoid, undecaprenyl pyrophosphate (UPP). Here we report the discovery and co‐crystal structures of a drug‐like UPPs inhibitor in complex with Streptococcus pneumoniae UPPs, with and without substrate FPP, at resolutions of 2.2 and 2.1 Å, respectively. The UPPs inhibitor has a low molecular weight (355 Da), but displays potent inhibition of UPP synthesis in vitro (IC 50 50 n M ) that translates into excellent whole cell antimicrobial activity against pathogenic strains of Streptococcal species (MIC 90 0.4 µg mL −1 ). Interestingly, the inhibitor does not compete with the substrates but rather binds at a site adjacent to the FPP binding site and interacts with the tail of the substrate. Based on the structures, an allosteric inhibition mechanism of UPPs is proposed for this inhibitor. This inhibition mechanism is supported by biochemical and biophysical experiments, and provides a basis for the development of novel antibiotics targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae .