Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 22, Issue 2, 2015

Pyoverdine is the generic name given to a vast family of fluorescent green-yellowish pigments produced by Pseudomonas species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen, particularly infecting humans with compromised natural defenses. These infections result in significantly higher morbidity, longer hospitalization, increased mortality rates and excess health care costs. P. aeruginosa is very difficult to eradicate because of an intrinsic coupled with an adaptive resistance to a wide variety of classical antibiotics. When subjected to iron starvation conditions, Pseudomonas bacteria synthesize pyoverdines, their primary siderophores, to acquire iron from the extracellular medium. These molecules are not only powerful iron(III) scavengers but efficient iron(III) transporters as well. Three distinct structural parts constitute pyoverdines, i.e. (i) the fluorescent chromophore, deriving from a dihydroxyquinoline, attached via its carbonyl group to (ii) a type-specific peptide composed of 6 to 14 amino acids and (iii) a small side chain corresponding to a carboxylic acid derivative. Their chemical structure show three bidentate chelating sites including a catechol and two hydroxamates, leading to an octahedral geometry when complexed to iron(III). While the chromophore group is common to all pyoverdines, their peptide moiety differs among strains and species by the number, length, composition and configuration of amino acids. Following chelation with iron(III), the newly formed pyoverdine-Fe complex is recognized by a specific outer membrane transporter, namely FpvA, and reenters the cell where the iron is released from the pyoverdine into the periplasm for further incorporation into bacterial proteins. The remaining apo-pyoverdine is then recycled and secreted back to the extracellular medium by efflux pumps. Besides, the role of pyoverdines in P. aeruginosa is not only limited to scavenge iron from the bacterial environment. Indeed, these siderophores act as signal molecules for the production of acute virulence factors and are involved in biofilm formation as well. The ongoing expanding pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa has become a major public health problem, and finding alternative strategies to classical antibiotics is urgently needed. Pyoverdines along with the iron pathway recently gained interest among academical researchers as potential new approaches to “fight” the bacteria. This review describes the classification of the nearly 60 pyoverdines identified so far, their structural and chemical properties and their (bio)synthesis. The different mechanisms underlying the steps of a pyoverdine’s life in Pseudomonas are detailed as well: the affinity by which a pyoverdine chelates iron(III), the description of the interactions inducing the siderophore-receptor recognition, the specific transport of the pyoverdine-Fe(III) complex. As pyoverdine production and severe infections are linked, we will also report on situations where pyoverdines are considered as being P. aeruginosa Achilles heel: the propensity of FpvA to transport exo-pyoverdines, organic synthesis of pyoverdines and analogs, grafting of antibiotics on pyoverdines in a Trojan Horse strategy.

The rising emergence of antibiotic resistance urges the search for new strategies to defeat microorganisms that lead to persistent infections of the host. Tolerant to antibiotics, slowly replicating bacteria often cause latent and persistent infections that are the most challenging for pharmacological treatment. Persistence inside the host requires an extensive re-programming of the pathogen metabolic functions, due to the extremely hostile environment they face. Therefore, targeting key metabolic functions could result in better antibiotic treatments, shortened latency periods, and increased susceptibility to traditional antibiotics. Bacteria, differently from mammals, assimilate inorganic sulfur into cysteine, the precursor of a number of key metabolites including reducing agents, cofactors and membrane components. Inhibition of cysteine biosynthesis was proven to interfere heavily with the ability of pathogens to fight oxidative stress, to infect the host and to establish long-term infections. This review has the purpose of i) briefly summarizing the key structural and functional properties of transporters and enzymes involved in sulfur assimilation, ii) presenting biological evidence that supports the exploitation of this pathway for the identification of potential targets and, iii) highlighting intense efforts and advancements in the search of promising candidates for the development of novel compounds that enhance antibiotics therapy.

Peptide deformylase (PDF) is a class of metalloenzyme responsible for catalyzing the removal of the N-formyl group from N-terminal methionine following translation. PDF inhibitors are moving into new phase of drug development. Initially, PDF was considered as an important target in antibacterial drug discovery; however genome database searches have revealed PDF-like sequences in parasites (P. falciparum) and human, widening the utility of this target in antimalarial and anticancer drug discovery along with antibacterial. Using structural and mechanistic information together with high throughput screening, several types of chemical classes of PDF inhibitors with improved efficacy and specificity have been identified. Various drugs like, GSK-1322322 (Phase II), BB-83698 (Phase I), and LBM-415 (Phase I) have entered into clinical developments. Developments in the field have prompted us to review the current aspects of PDFs, especially their structures, different classes of PDF inhibitors, and molecular modeling studies. In nut shell, this review enlightens PDF as a versatile target along with its inhibitors and future perspectives of different PDF inhibitors.

Cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK2) is a member of protein kinase family. It plays an important role in regulating various events of eukaryotic cell division cycle. Accumulated evidences indicated that over expression of CDK2 should cause the abnormal regulation of cell-cycle, which would be directly associated with hyperproliferation in cancer cells. Therefore, CDK2 was regarded as a potentially therapeutic target for cancer therapy. Knowledge of crystallography and availability of X-ray crystal structure of CDK2 have enabled us to understand the mode of CDK2 inhibition, which facilitated the development of numerous CDK2 inhibitors. Some of the CDK2 inhibitors were investigated clinically for their potential as anti-cancer agents. In this review, we present the structure, functions and activation of CDK2 by cyclin binding with special focus on recent advances in the development of different classes of CDK2 inhibitors. We also summarize different strategies to achieve subtype specificity either by targeting a binding pocket other than ATP, i.e. allosteric ligand binding site or by natural protein inhibitors capable to disrupt CDK2-cyclin complexes. It is possible to develop pharmacologically relevant cytotoxic agents by specifically inhibiting CDK2 activity with lesser toxicity than traditional chemotherapeutic agents.

The activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NFΚB), a proinflammatory transcription factor, is a commonly observed phenomenon in breast cancer. It facilitates the development of a hormone-independent, invasive, high-grade, and late-stage tumor phenotype. Moreover, the commonly used cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy approaches activate NFΚB, leading to the development of invasive breast cancers that show resistance to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and endocrine therapy. Inhibition of NFΚB results in an increase in the sensitivity of cancer cells to the apoptotic effects of chemotherapeutic agents and radiation and restoring hormone sensitivity, which is correlated with increased disease-free survival in patients with breast cancer. In this review article, we focus on the role of the NFΚB signaling pathways in the development and progression of breast cancer and the validity of NFΚB as a potential target for breast cancer prevention and therapy. We also discuss the recent findings that NFΚB may have tumor suppressing activity in certain cancer types. Finally, this review also covers the state-of-the-art development of NFΚB inhibitors for cancer therapy and prevention, the challenges in targeting validation, and pharmacology and toxicology evaluations of these agents from the bench to the bedside.