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Biocatalysts from cyanobacterial hapalindole pathway afford antivirulent isonitriles against MRSA

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Abstract

The emergence of resistance to frontline antibiotics has called for novel strategies to combat serious pathogenic infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] is one such pathogen. As opposed to traditional antibiotics, bacteriostatic anti-virulent agents disarm MRSA, without exerting pressure, that cause resistance. Herein, we employed a thermophilic Thermotoga maritima tryptophan synthase (TmTrpB1) enzyme followed by an isonitrile synthase and Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase, in sequence as biocatalysts to produce antivirulent indole vinyl isonitriles. We report on conversion of simple derivatives of indoles to their C3-vinyl isonitriles, as the enzymes employed here demonstrated broader substrate tolerance. In toto, eight distinct L-Tryptophan derived α-amino acids (7) were converted to their bioactive vinyl isonitriles (3) by action of an isonitrile synthase (WelI1) and an Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase (WelI3) yielding structural variants possessing antivirulence against MRSA. These indole vinyl isonitriles at 10 μg/mL are effective as antivirulent compounds against MRSA, as evidenced through analysis of rabbit blood hemolysis assay. Based on a homology modelling exercise, of enzyme-substrate complexes, we deduced potential three dimensional alignments of active sites and glean mechanistic insights into the substrate tolerance of the Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. C Dale Poulter for generous gift of TmTrpB1 plasmid. The authors thank the Indiana University Mass Spectrometry facility for assistance with LC-MS and MS-MS data acquisition. BMB thanks the Department of Education (DOE) grant support through a GAANN fellowship (2012–2013). RV is grateful for funding from the Case Western Reserve University’s Start-Up award and support from the Dean’s Office for Inclusion Diversity Faculty Excellence achievement award. RV acknowledges the support from IISER Tirupati towards this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Brittney M Bunn

  2. Department of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Mizhi Xu

  3. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Chase M Webb

  4. Department of Chemistry and Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati, Tirupati, India

    Rajesh Viswanathan

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  1. Brittney M Bunn
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  2. Mizhi Xu
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  3. Chase M Webb
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  4. Rajesh Viswanathan
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Correspondence to Rajesh Viswanathan.

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Communicated by BJ RAO .

Corresponding editor: BJ RAO

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Bunn, B.M., Xu, M., Webb, C.M. et al. Biocatalysts from cyanobacterial hapalindole pathway afford antivirulent isonitriles against MRSA. J Biosci 46, 37 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-021-00156-4

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