2. Academic Validation
  3. Amino acid based prodrugs of a fosmidomycin surrogate as antimalarial and antitubercular agents

Amino acid based prodrugs of a fosmidomycin surrogate as antimalarial and antitubercular agents

  • Bioorg Med Chem. 2019 Mar 1;27(5):729-747. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.01.016.
Charlotte Courtens 1,  Martijn Risseeuw 1,  Guy Caljon 2,  Louis Maes 2,  Anandi Martin 3,  Serge Van Calenbergh 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  • 2 Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1 (S7), B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
  • 3 Medical Microbiology, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Hippocrate 55, B-1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium.
  • 4 Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: serge.vancalenbergh@ugent.be.
PMID: 30692024 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.01.016
Abstract

Fosmidomycin is a natural Antibiotic with promising IspC (DXR, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase) inhibitory activity. This Enzyme catalyzes the first committed step of the non-mevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway, which is essential in Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mainly as a result of its high polarity, fosmidomycin displays suboptimal pharmacokinetic properties. Furthermore, fosmidomycin is inactive against M. tuberculosis as a result of its inability to penetrate the Bacterial cell wall. Temporarily masking the phosphonate moiety as a prodrug has the potential to solve both issues. We report the application of two amino acid based prodrug approaches on a fosmidomycin surrogate. Conversion of the phosphonate moiety into tyrosine-derived esters increases the in vitro activity against asexual blood stages of P. falciparum, while phosphonodiamidate prodrugs display promising antitubercular activities. Selected prodrugs were tested in vivo in a P. berghei malaria mouse model. These results indicate good in vivo antiplasmodial potential.

Keywords

Fosmidomycin; Isoprenoid biosynthesis; Malaria; Non-mevalonate pathway; Prodrugs; Tuberculosis.

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