A new small molecule inhibitor of bacterial cell division has been discovered using a highthroughput screen in E. coli. Although the lead screening hit (534F6) exhibited modest inhibition of the GTPase activity of FtsZ (20±5% at 100 μM primary target for bacterial cell division inhibitors, several analogs caused potent bacterial growth inhibition with negligible antagonism of FtsZ GTPase activity. A library of analogs has been prepared and several alkyne-tagged photoaffinity probes have been synthesized for use in experiments to elucidate the primary target of this compound.The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria has prompted a worldwide effort to seek new avenues for fighting infectious disease. 1 Most antibiotics discovered to date target a narrow range of biochemical processes in bacteria. 2 FtsZ, the prokaryotic analog of tubulin, 3 has been examined as a potential new target for antimicrobial chemotherapy. Although FtsZ has been the primary target for small molecules that inhibit bacterial cell division, 4 it is likely that other proteins essential for bacterial cytokinesis can also be targeted. 5 A high-throughput screen has recently been developed to identify compounds that cause lethal cell filamentation in E. coli. 6,7 This screen revealed new inhibitors of FtsZ and at the same time yielded several compounds that caused cell filamentation without inducing the SOS response or without significantly inhibiting the GTPase activity of FtsZ. Herein we describe our preliminary SAR studies of 534F6, an N-benzyl-3-sulfonamidopyrrrolidine Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Figure 1) and our initial preparation of photoaffinity reagents for the identification of this compound's protein target(s).
NIH Public Access534F6 displayed weak inhibition of FtsZ GTPase (20±5% at 100 μM), did not affect steadystate FtsZ polymerization as assayed by high-speed sedimentation, and induced SOSindependent E. coli cell filamentation (data not shown). Despite a certain degree of similarity to sulfonamide antibiotics, such as sulfamethoxazole, compound 534F6 exhibited markedly different effects on E. coli. Sulfamethoxazole showed modest lethality (MIC > 80μM) and did not cause E. coli (AcrAB efflux pump knockout strain DRC 39 4d ) to filament. Based on these observations, we set out to develop a library synthesis of 534F6 in an effort to optimize potency and eventually determine the protein target of this compound.We began by investigating the SAR of 534F6. Since the configuration of this compound was unknown, we prepared each of the two enantiomers as ...