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  2. Design of phenothiazine-based cationic amphiphilic derivatives incorporating arginine residues: Potential membrane-active broad-spectrum antimicrobials combating pathogenic bacteria in vitro and in vivo

Design of phenothiazine-based cationic amphiphilic derivatives incorporating arginine residues: Potential membrane-active broad-spectrum antimicrobials combating pathogenic bacteria in vitro and in vivo

  • Eur J Med Chem. 2023 Nov 15:260:115733. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115733.
Qian Yu 1 Qiongna Cai 1 Wanxin Liang 1 Kewen Zhong 1 Jiayong Liu 1 Haizhou Li 1 Yongzhi Chen 1 Hongxia Li 1 Shanfang Fang 1 Rongcui Zhong 1 Shouping Liu 2 Shuimu Lin 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 The Fifth Affiliated Hospital & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Target & Clinical Pharmacology, The NMPA and State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China.
  • 2 The Fifth Affiliated Hospital & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Target & Clinical Pharmacology, The NMPA and State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China. Electronic address: liushouping2018@163.com.
  • 3 The Fifth Affiliated Hospital & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Target & Clinical Pharmacology, The NMPA and State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511436, China. Electronic address: linshuimu020@163.com.
Abstract

Multidrug-resistant bacteria infections pose an increasingly serious threat to human health, and the development of antimicrobials is far from meeting the clinical demand. It is urgent to discover and develop novel Antibiotics to combat Bacterial resistance. Currently, the development of membrane active antimicrobial agents is an attractive strategy to cope with antimicrobial resistance issues. In this study, the synthesis and biological evaluation of cationic amphiphilic phenothiazine-based derivatives were reported. Among them, the most promising compound 30 bearing a n-heptyl group and two arginine residues displayed potent bactericidal activity against both Gram-positive (MICs = 1.56 μg/mL) and Gram-negative bacteria (MICs = 3.125-6.25 μg/mL). Compound 30 showed low hemolysis activity (HC50 = 281.4 ± 1.6 μg/mL) and low cytotoxicity (CC50 > 50 μg/mL) toward mammalian cells, as well as excellent salt resistance. Compound 30 rapidly killed bacteria by acting on the Bacterial cell membrane and appeared less prone to resistance. Importantly, compound 30 showed potent in vivo efficacy in a murine model of Bacterial keratitis. Hence, the results suggested compound 30 has a promising prospect as a broad-spectrum Antibacterial agent for the treatment of drug-resistant Bacterial infections.

Keywords

Antibacterial agents; Broad-spectrum; Drug resistance; Phenothiazine.

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