Vibrio cholerae causes life-threatening infections in low-income countries due to the rise of antibacterial resistance. Innovative pharmacological targets have been investigated and carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC: 4.2.1.1) encoded by V. cholerae (VchCAs) emerged as a valuable option. Recently, we developed a large library of para- and meta-benzenesulfonamides characterised by moieties with a different flexibility degree as CAs inhibitors. Stopped flow-based enzymatic assays showed strong inhibition of VchαCA for this library, while lower affinity was detected against the other isoforms. In particular, cyclic urea 9c emerged for a nanomolar inhibition of VchαCA (K_I = 4.7 nM) and high selectivity with respect to human isoenzymes (SI≥ 90). Computational studies revealed the influence of moiety flexibility on inhibitory activity and isoform selectivity and allowed accurate SARs. However, although VchCAs are involved in the bacterium virulence and not in its survival, we evaluated the antibacterial activity of such compounds, resulting in no direct activity. Graphical Abstract

To fight the increasingly worrying bacterial resistance to antibiotics, the discovery and development of new therapeutics is urgently needed. Here, we report on a new series of 1,2,4-triazole-3-thione compounds as inhibitors of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs), which represent major resistance determinants to β-lactams, and especially carbapenems, in Gram-negative bacteria. These molecules are stable analogs of 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole-derived Schiff bases, where the hydrazone-like bond has been reduced (hydrazine series) or the 4-amino group has been acylated (hydrazide series); the synthesis and physicochemical properties thereof are described. The inhibitory potency was determined on the most clinically relevant acquired MBLs (IMP-, VIM-, and NDM-types subclass B1 MBLs). When compared with the previously reported hydrazone series, hydrazine but not hydrazide analogs showed similarly potent inhibitory activity on VIM-type enzymes, especially VIM-2 and VIM-4, with K_i values in the micromolar to submicromolar range. One of these showed broad-spectrum inhibition as it also significantly inhibited VIM-1 and NDM-1. Restoration of β-lactam activity in microbiological assays was observed for one selected compound. Finally, the binding to the VIM-2 active site was evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry and a modeling study explored the effect of the linker structure on the mode of binding with this MBL.

Streptomyces lunaelactis strains have been isolated from moonmilk deposits, which are calcium carbonate speleothems used for centuries in traditional medicine for their antimicrobial properties. Genome mining revealed that these strains are a remarkable example of a Streptomyces species with huge heterogeneity regarding their content in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for specialized metabolite production. BGC 28a is one of the cryptic BGCs that is only carried by a subgroup of S. lunaelactis strains for which in silico analysis predicted the production of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics containing the non-proteogenic amino acid piperazic acid (Piz). Comparative metabolomics of culture extracts of S. lunaelactis strains either holding or not holding BGC 28a combined with MS/MS-guided peptidogenomics and ¹H/¹³C NMR allowed us to identify the cyclic hexapeptide with the amino acid sequence (D-Phe)-(L-HO-Ile)-(D-Piz)-(L-Piz)-(D-Piz)-(L-Piz), called lunaemycin A, as the main compound synthesized by BGC 28a. Molecular networking further identified 18 additional lunaemycins, with 14 of them having their structure elucidated by HRMS/MS. Antimicrobial assays demonstrated a significant bactericidal activity of lunaemycins against Gram-positive bacteria, including multi-drug resistant clinical isolates. Our work demonstrates how an accurate in silico analysis of a cryptic BGC can highly facilitate the identification, the structural elucidation, and the bioactivity of its associated specialized metabolites.

The application of various isonitrile-based multicomponent reactions to protected (2-oxoethyl)boronic acid (as the carbonyl component) is described. The Ugi reaction, both in the four components and in the four centers–three components versions, and the van Leusen reaction, proved effective at providing small libraries of MIDA-protected β-aminoboronic acids. The corresponding free β-aminoboronic acids, quantitatively recovered through basic mild deprotection, were found to be quite stable and were fully characterized, including by ¹¹B-NMR spectroscopy. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, applied both to a MIDA-protected and a free β-aminoboronic acid derivative, provided evidence for different conformations in the solid-state. Finally, the antimicrobial activities of selected compounds were evaluated by measuring their minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, and the binding mode of the most promising derivative on OXA-23 class D β-lactamase was predicted by a molecular modeling study.