title: Inhibitors of pathogen intercellular signals as selective anti-infective compounds.
abstract: Long-term antibiotic use generates pan-resistant super pathogens. Anti-infective compounds that selectively disrupt virulence pathways without affecting cell viability may be used to efficiently combat infections caused by these pathogens. A candidate target pathway is quorum sensing (QS), which many bacterial pathogens use to coordinately regulate virulence determinants. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa MvfR-dependent QS regulatory pathway controls the expression of key virulence genes; and is activated via the extracellular signals 4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (HHQ) and 3,4-dihydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (PQS), whose syntheses depend on anthranilic acid (AA), the primary precursor of 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQs). Here, we identified halogenated AA analogs that specifically inhibited HAQ biosynthesis and disrupted MvfR-dependent gene expression. These compounds restricted P. aeruginosa systemic dissemination and mortality in mice, without perturbing bacterial viability, and inhibited osmoprotection, a widespread bacterial function. These compounds provide a starting point for the design and development of selective anti-infectives that restrict human P. aeruginosa pathogenesis, and possibly other clinically significant pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Biliana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lesic
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lépine
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Déziel
authors.forename: Jiangwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qunhao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Padfield
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Castonguay
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Milot
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stachel
authors.forename: A Aria
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tzika
authors.forename: Ronald G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Tompkins
authors.forename: Laurence G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Rahme
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011804:Quinolines / Q000378:metabolism; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D062367:ortho-Aminobenzoates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D011804:Quinolines; D062367:ortho-Aminobenzoates; C031385:anthranilic acid