Diverted Total Synthesis of the Baulamycins and Analogues Reveals an Alternate Mechanism of Action

Enantioselective Total Syntheses of (+)-Ganocin A and (-)-Cochlearol B

Herein, we report the total syntheses of (+)-ganocin A and (-)-cochlearol B, featuring pentacyclic skeletons, in optically active forms. We utilized asymmetric Corey-Bakshi-Shibata reduction, phenolic oxidative cyclization, the intramolecular radical cyclization-benzylic oxidative cyclization sequence, and intramolecular [2 + 2] photocycloaddition. These key steps enabled enantioselective access with the longest linear sequence of 17 steps and 9% overall yield for (+)-ganocin A and with 16 steps and 9% overall yield for (-)-cohlearol B.

Synthesis and antibacterial activities of baulamycin A inspired derivatives

SbnE is an essential enzyme for staphyloferrin B biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus. An earlier study showed that natural product baulamycin A has in vitro inhibitory activity against SbnE and antibacterial potency. A SAR study with analogues of baulamycin A was conducted to identify potent inhibitors of SbnE and/or effective antibiotics against MRSA. The results show that selected analogues, including 11, 18, 21, 24a, 24c, 24m and 24n, exhibit single-digit micromolar inhibitory potencies against SbnE (IC50s = 1.81-8.94 μM) and 11, 24m, 24n possess significant activities against both SbnE (IC50s = 4.12-6.12 μM) and bacteria (MICs = 4-32 μg/mL). Biological investigations revealed that these substances possess potent cell wall disruptive activities and that they inhibit siderophore production in MRSA. Among the selected analogues, 7 has excellent antibiotic activities both gram-positive and -negative bacteria (0.5-4 μg/mL). Moreover, these analogues significantly impede biofilm formation in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, the results of the investigation provide valuable insight into the nature of novel baulamycin A analogues that have potential efficacy against MRSA owing to their membrane damaging activity and/or inhibitory efficacy against siderophore production.

Total Synthesis of Cochlearol B via Intramolecular [2+2] Photocycloaddition

Herein, we describe the first total synthesis of cochlearol B, a meroterpenoid natural product featuring a 4/5/6/6/6-fused pentacyclic structure. Key steps, oxidative cyclization and subsequent intramolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition, which constructed the pentacyclic structure in highly stereoselective manner, allowed efficient access to cochlearol B with the longest linear sequence of 16 steps, and in 9 % overall yield. Single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis clearly confirmed the stereochemistry of cochlearol B.

A look around the West Indies: The spices of life are secondary metabolites

Natural products possess a wide range of bioactivities with potential for therapeutic usage. While the distribution of these molecules can vary greatly there is some correlation that exists between the biodiversity of an environment and the uniqueness and concentration of natural products found in that region or area. The Caribbean and pan-Caribbean area is home to thousands of species of endemic fauna and flora providing huge potential for natural product discovery and by way, potential leads for drug development. This can especially be said for marine natural products as many of are rapidly diluted through diffusion once released and therefore are highly potent to achieve long reaching effects. This review seeks to highlight a small selection of marine natural products from the Caribbean region which possess antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory and antipathogenic properties while highlighting any synthetic efforts towards bioactive analogs.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Baulamycin A

New structural classes of antibiotics are rare, structurally novel broad-spectrum antibiotics exceptionally so. The recently discovered baulamycins constitute a remarkable example of these highly prized compounds and, as such, have attracted considerable attention in the form of both synthetic efforts and biological studies. For the first time, we report a gram-scale preparation of the common carbon framework of the baulamycin family, as well as the total synthesis of its most potent member, baulamycin A. Our approach employs highly stereoselective, catalyst-controlled asymmetric conjugate additions to thioesters to set key stereocenters, as well as the first reported use of "dry ozonolysis" to reveal a masked carboxylic acid in the total synthesis of a natural product.

Scavenging Bacterial Siderophores with Engineered Lipocalin Proteins as an Alternative Antimicrobial Strategy

Iron acquisition mediated by siderophores, high-affinity chelators for which bacteria have evolved specific synthesis and uptake mechanisms, plays a crucial role in microbiology and in host-pathogen interactions. In the ongoing fight against bacterial infections, this area has attracted biomedical interest. Beyond several approaches to interfere with siderophore-mediated iron uptake from medicinal and immunochemistry, the development of high-affinity protein scavengers that tightly complex the siderophores produced by pathogenic bacteria has appeared as a novel strategy. Such binding proteins have been engineered based on siderocalin-also known as lipocalin 2-an endogenous human scavenger of enterobactin and bacillibactin that controls the systemic spreading of commensal bacteria such as Escherichia coli. By using combinatorial protein design, siderocalin was reshaped to bind several siderophores from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and, in particular, petrobactin from Bacillus anthracis, none of which is recognized by the natural protein. Such engineered versions of siderocalin effectively suppress the growth of corresponding pathogenic bacteria by depriving them of their iron supply and offer the potential to complement antibiotic therapy in situations of acute or persistent infection.

Development of a High-Throughput Biochemical Assay to Screen for Inhibitors of Aerobactin Synthetase IucA

Acquiring sufficient quantities of iron to support survival is often a critical limitation for pathogenic bacteria. To meet this demand, bacteria have evolved unique strategies to scavenge iron and circumvent the nutritional immunity exerted by their hosts. One common strategy, which is often a key virulence factor for bacterial pathogens, involves the synthesis, secretion, and reuptake of iron chelators known as siderophores. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the siderophore aerobactin is critical for virulence in the hypervirulent pathotype of Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP). Given the high rate of multidrug resistance in K. pneumoniae, and in light of the ever-increasing demand for novel Gram-negative therapeutic targets, we identified aerobactin production as a promising antivirulence target in hvKP. Herein, we describe the development of a high-throughput biochemical assay for identifying inhibitors of the aerobactin synthetase IucA. The assay was employed to screen ~110,000 compounds across several commercially available small-molecule libraries. IucA inhibitors with activity at micromolar concentrations were identified in our screening campaigns and confirmed using secondary orthogonal assays. However, the most potent compounds also exhibited some properties commonly observed with promiscuous/nonspecific inhibitors, including incubation time and target enzyme concentration dependence, as well as the potential to antagonize unrelated enzymes.