UDP-Galactopyranose mutase (UGM or Glf), which catalyzes the interconversion of UDPgalactopyranose and UDP-galactofuranose, is implicated in the viability and virulence of multiple pathogenic microorganisms. Here we report the synthesis of high-affinity ligands for UGM homologs from Klebsiella pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The potency of these compounds stems from their ability to access both the substrate binding pocket and an adjacent site.Galactofuranose (Galf) residues are present in many pathogenic microorganisms. 1 Perhaps the most notorious of these is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which depends upon Galf residues as essential cell wall components. 2 The biogenesis of Galf-containing glycoconjugates requires the precursor uridine 5′-diphosphogalactofuranose (UDP-Galf). This building block is produced from UDP-galactopyranose (UDP-Galp) by the action of UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) (Figure 1). The gene encoding UGM (glf) is essential for mycobacterial viability, 3 indicating that Galf-containing glycoconjugates are necessary components of the mycobacterial cell wall. Moreover, Galf residues are absent from mammalian glycoconjugates, and UGM inhibitors can block mycobacterial cell growth. 4 These observations underpin the appeal of UGM as a therapeutic target.Most inhibitors of UGM mimic the natural ligand, UDP-Gal. Simple sugar derivatives, including Galp or Galf analogs, can serve as inhibitors, but their activities are relatively modest. 5 Inhibitors that incorporate the uridine portion of the substrate bind substantially better, with affinities that approximate that of UDP-Galp (K d ~ 50 μM). 6,7 Recently, we and others have identified several non substrate-based molecules as ligands. 4,[8][9][10] These Supporting Information Available Detailed experimental procedures, including binding curves and compound synthesis. This information is available free of charge via the internet at http://pubs.acs.org. Our efforts to generate high-affinity UGM ligands were guided by our previous design of a fluorescent UGM ligand. 9 We concluded that the UDP moiety of the substrate contributes the majority of the binding energy, 9 and subsequent studies provide additional support. 6,11 Accordingly, we tethered a fluorophore to UDP through the diphosphoryl group. UDP binds to the UGM from K. pneumoniae (UGM kleb ) with an affinity of 26 μM and to the homolog from M. tuberculosis (UGM myco ) with an affinity of 15 μM; therefore, we expected the UDP-fluorescein probe to bind with an affinity in the same range. In contrast, the probe is a potent ligand, with an affinity approximately 100-fold higher than that of UDP. Specifically, its K d for UGM kleb is 0.10 μM and that for UGM myco is 0.16 μM. The finding that the addition of a fluorescein group enhances affinity suggests that the fluorophore can access a secondary binding site on the enzyme.
NIH Public AccessIf the fluorescein moiety occupies an adjacent subsite, the linker separating it and the UDP moiety should influence binding. To test this hyp...