1. Academic Validation
  2. An adamantyl-caffeoyl-anilide exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial activity by inhibiting FtsZ assembly and Z-ring formation

An adamantyl-caffeoyl-anilide exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial activity by inhibiting FtsZ assembly and Z-ring formation

  • Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Jan 8;259(Pt 2):129255. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129255.
Prajakta Bhondwe 1 Neha Sengar 2 Hardik S Bodiwala 2 Inder Pal Singh 2 Dulal Panda 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
  • 2 Department of Natural Products, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India.
  • 3 Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India; Department of Natural Products, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India. Electronic address: panda@iitb.ac.in.
Abstract

Several harmful bacteria have evolved resistance to conventional Antibiotics due to their extensive usage. FtsZ, a principal Bacterial cell division protein, is considered as an important drug target to combat resistance. We identified a caffeoyl anilide derivative, (E)-N-(4-(3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)acryloyl)phenyl)-1-adamantylamide (compound 11) as a new antimicrobial agent targeting FtsZ. Compound 11 caused cell elongation in Mycobacterium smegmatis, Bacillus subtilis, and Escherichia coli cells, indicating that it inhibits cell partitioning. Compound 11 inhibited the assembly of Mycobacterium smegmatis FtsZ (MsFtsZ), forming short and thin filaments in vitro. Interestingly, the compound increased the rate of GTP hydrolysis of MsFtsZ. Compound 11 also impeded the assembly of Mycobacterium tuberculosis FtsZ. Fluorescence and absorption spectroscopic analysis suggested that compound 11 binds to MsFtsZ and produces conformational changes in FtsZ. The docking analysis indicated that the compound binds at the interdomain cleft of MsFtsZ. Further, it caused delocalization of the Z-ring in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Bacillus subtilis without affecting DNA segregation. Notably, compound 11 did not inhibit tubulin polymerization, the eukaryotic homolog of FtsZ, suggesting its specificity on bacteria. The evidence indicated that compound 11 exerts its Antibacterial effect by impeding FtsZ assembly and has the potential to be developed as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent.

Keywords

Antimicrobial target; Caffeoyl anilide; FtsZ; FtsZ inhibitor; Mycobacterium.

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