The problem of resistance to antibiotics requires the development of new
classes of broad-spectrum antimicrobial drugs. The concept of pro-drugs allows
researchers to look for new approaches to obtain effective drugs with improved
pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Thiosulfinates, formed
enzymatically from amino acid sulfoxides upon crushing cells of genus
Allium plants, are known as antimicrobial compounds. The
instability and high reactivity of thiosulfinates complicate their use as
individual antimicrobial compounds. We propose a pharmacologically
complementary pair: an amino acid sulfoxide pro-drug and vitamin B6 –
dependent methionine γ-lyase, which metabolizes it in the patient’s
body. The enzyme catalyzes the γ- and β-elimination reactions of
sulfoxides, analogues of L-methionine and L-cysteine, which leads to the
formation of thiosulfinates. In the present work, we cloned the enzyme gene
from Clostridium sporogenes. Ionic and tautomeric forms of the
internal aldimine were determined by lognormal deconvolution of the holoenzyme
spectrum and the catalytic parameters of the recombinant enzyme in the γ-
and β-elimination reactions of amino acids, and some sulfoxides of amino
acids were obtained. For the first time, the possibility of usage of the enzyme
for effective conversion of sulfoxides was established and the antimicrobial
activity of thiosulfinates against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
in situ was shown.
The multiresistance of A. ruhlandii 155B, B. cenocepacia 122, and P. aeruginosa 48B strains isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis was established. The antibacterial effect of allicin, dimethyl thiosulfinate, and dipropyl thiosulfinate on multidrug-resistant strains was shown. Thiosulfinates can have both bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects depending on the microorganism and the concentration. The studied thiosulfinates may be candidates for the development of alternative antibiotic drugs to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.