Cyclic L27-11

The asymmetric outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the outer leaflet and phospholipid in the inner leaflet. During OM biogenesis, LPS is transported from the periplasm into the outer leaflet by a complex comprising the OM proteins LptD and LptE. Recently, a new family of macrocyclic peptidomimetic antibiotics that interact with LptD of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa was discovered. Here we provide evidence that the peptidomimetics inhibit the LPS transport function of LptD. One approach to monitor LPS transport involved studies of lipid A modifications. Some modifications occur only in the inner membrane while others occur only in the OM, and thus provide markers for LPS transport within the bacterial envelope. We prepared a conditional lptD mutant of P. aeruginosa PAO1 that allowed control of lptD expression from the rhamnose promoter. With this mutant, the effects caused by the antibiotic on the wild-type strain were compared with those caused by depleting LptD in the mutant strain. When LptD was depleted in the mutant, electron microscopy revealed accumulation of membrane-like material within cells and OM blebbing; this mirrored similar effects in the wild-type strain caused by the antibiotic. Moreover, the bacterium responded to the antibiotic, and to depletion of LptD, by introducing the same lipid A modifications, consistent with inhibition by the antibiotic of LptD-mediated LPS transport. This conclusion was further supported by monitoring the radiolabelling of LPS from [¹⁴C]acetate, and by fractionation of IM and OM components. Overall, the results provide support for a mechanism of action for the peptidomimetic antibiotics that involves inhibition of LPS transport to the cell surface.

Antibiotics with new mechanisms of action are urgently required to combat the growing health threat posed by resistant pathogenic microorganisms. We synthesized a family of peptidomimetic antibiotics based on the antimicrobial peptide protegrin I. Several rounds of optimization gave a lead compound that was active in the nanomolar range against Gram-negative Pseudomonas spp., but was largely inactive against other Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Biochemical and genetic studies showed that the peptidomimetics had a non-membrane-lytic mechanism of action and identified a homolog of the beta-barrel protein LptD (Imp/OstA), which functions in outer-membrane biogenesis, as a cellular target. The peptidomimetic showed potent antimicrobial activity in a mouse septicemia infection model. Drug-resistant strains of Pseudomonas are a serious health problem, so this family of antibiotics may have important therapeutic applications.

Antimicrobial resistance among Gram-negative bacteria is a growing problem, fueled by the paucity of new antibiotics that target these microorganisms. One novel family of macrocyclic β-hairpin-shaped peptidomimetics was recently shown to act specifically against Pseudomonas spp. by a novel mechanism of action, targeting the outer membrane protein LptD, which mediates lipopolysaccharide transport to the cell surface during outer membrane biogenesis. Here we explore the mode of binding of one of these β-hairpin peptidomimetics to LptD in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by examining the effects on antimicrobial activity following N-methylation of individual peptide bonds. An N-methyl scan of the cyclic peptide revealed that residues on both sides of the β-hairpin structure at a non-hydrogen bonding position likely mediate hydrogen-bonding interactions with the target LptD. Structural analyses by NMR spectroscopy further reinforce the conclusion that the folded β-hairpin structure of the peptidomimetic is critical for binding to the target LptD. Finally, new NMe analogues with potent activity have been identified, which opens new avenues for optimization in this family of antimicrobial peptides.