Siderophores (microbial iron chelators) play an extremely important role in microbial pathogenicity. Microbial uptake of siderophore-iron complexes through active transport systems allow microbes to survive and proliferate even under iron deficient environments during invasion of a host. Due to their structural complexity, unique iron (III) chelation, acquisition properties, and their therapeutic potential, siderophores have attracted much attention in a broad range of disciplines. Tremendous progress has been made in siderophore syntheses, in determination of the structures and functions of outer membrane receptors (e.g. FhuA and FepA), and in the mechanistic insight into siderophore-iron-mediated active transport processes. One of the important practical applications of this active transport system is development of species-selective active drug transport (the Trojan Horse approach) to potentially treat infections due to drug resistant strains of microbes. Siderophore-drug conjugates have shown great potential in active drug delivery to target pathogenic microbes.

We have developed a general method of making conditional alleles that allows the rapid and reversible regulation of specific proteins. A mouse line was produced in which proteins encoded by the endogenous glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3beta) gene are fused to an 89 amino acid tag, FRB*. FRB* causes the destabilization of GSK-3beta, producing a severe loss-of-function allele. In the presence of C20-MaRap, a highly specific, nontoxic, cell-permeable small molecule, GSK-3betaFRB* binds to the ubiquitously expressed FKBP12 protein. This interaction stabilizes GSK-3betaFRB* and restores both protein levels and activity. C20-MaRap-mediated stabilization is rapidly reversed by the addition of an FKBP12 binding competitor molecule. This technology may be applied to a wide range of FRB*-tagged mouse genes while retaining their native transcriptional control. Inducible stabilization could be valuable for many developmental and physiological studies and for drug target validation.

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A practical large-scale synthesis of hydroxamate-derived siderophore components (30 and 40) that utilizes an efficient indirect oxidation method is described and applied to the syntheses of nonradioactive labeled siderophores. Oxidation of imines derived from l-ornithine (17) and its tripeptide (19) afforded oxaziridines that were isomerized to stable nitrones (16 and 18). Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of nitrones provided hydroxylamines that were converted to the desired hydroxamic acids (30 and 40) suitable for constructing siderophore−drug conjugates (2). The entire synthetic sequence required no chromatographic separation. DIG- and biotin-labeled ferrichrome analogues designed to detect and isolate ferrichrome receptors in various microbes were also synthesized.

Development of resistance to antibiotics is a major medical problem. One approach to extending the utility of our limited antibiotic arsenal is to repurpose antibiotics by altering their bacterial selectivity. Many antibiotics that are used to treat infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria might be made effective against Gram-negative bacterial infections, if they could circumvent permeability barriers and antibiotic deactivation processes associated with Gram-negative bacteria. Herein, we report that covalent attachment of the normally Gram-positive-only antibiotic, daptomycin, with iron sequestering siderophore mimetics that are recognized by Gram-negative bacteria, provides conjugates that are active against virulent strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, including carbapenemase and cephalosporinase producers. The result is the generation of a new set of antibiotics designed to target bacterial infections that have been designated as being of dire concern.