Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that is a major regulator of energy homeostasis and cellular adaptation to low oxygen stress. HIF-1 is also activated in response to bacterial pathogens and supports the innate immune response of both phagocytes and keratinocytes. In this work, we show that a new pharmacological compound AKB-4924 (Akebia Therapeutics) increases HIF-1α levels and enhances the antibacterial activity of phagocytes and keratinocytes against both methicillin-sensitive and -resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. AKB-4924 is also effective in stimulating the killing capacity of keratinocytes against the important opportunistic skin pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinitobacter baumanii. The effect of AKB-4924 is mediated through the activity of host cells, as the compound exerts no direct antimicrobial activity. Administered locally as a single agent, AKB-4924 limits S. aureus proliferation and lesion formation in a mouse skin abscess model. This approach to pharmacologically boost the innate immune response via HIF-1 stabilization may serve as a useful adjunctive treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

The ongoing spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in hospital and community settings presents a great challenge to public health and illustrates the urgency of discovering new antibiotics. Marinopyrrole A is a member of a structurally novel class of compounds identified from a species of marine-derived streptomycetes with evidence of antistaphylococcal activity. We show that marinopyrrole A has potent concentration-dependent bactericidal activity against clinically relevant hospital-and communityacquired MRSA strains, a prolonged postantibiotic effect superior to that of the current first-line agents vancomycin and linezolid, and a favorable resistance profile. Marinopyrrole A showed limited toxicity to mammalian cell lines (at >20؋ MIC). However, its antibiotic activity against MRSA was effectively neutralized by 20% human serum. A variety of marinopyrrole analogs were isolated from culture or synthetically produced to try to overcome the inhibitory effect of serum. While many of these compounds retained potent bactericidal effect against MRSA, their activities were also inhibited by serum. Marinopyrrole A has significant affinity for plastic and may therefore have potential as a potent anti-MRSA agent in cutaneous, intracatheter, or antibiotic-lock applications.

Neurotensin-1 (NT1) receptor agonists have been proposed as putative antipsychotic drugs. Recently brain penetrating NT analogues produced by stability enhancing modification of the smallest NT fragment, , have demonstrated antipsychotic-like efficacy after acute systemic injection in several preclinical animal tests predictive for antipsychotic efficacy. However, the evidence regarding the persistence versus tolerance of these effects after repeated administration is ambiguous. Previous studies have used compounds that non-selectively activated both NT1 and NT2 receptors, a factor which may have contributed to the ambiguity in findings regarding the emergence of tolerance. In this study, we investigated the effects of subchronic systemic administration of PD149163, a brain penetrating NT analogue with selectivity for the NT1 receptor, on amphetamineinduced locomotor activation, a classic preclinical test of antipsychotic-efficacy. Sprague Dawley rats were pretreated with eight consecutive daily subcutaneous (SC) injections of PD149163 or saline. On the ninth day rats received a pair of SC injections consisting of PD149163 or saline, followed by amphetamine (0.5mg/kg) or saline. Locomotor activity was then measured in photobeam equipped cages. The results indicated that repeated daily administration of PD149163 was able to antagonize amphetamine's locomotor activating effect comparable to that of the first dose, despite that repeated administration of PD149163 produced an increase in baseline locomotor activity not seen after the first dose. The results do not support development of tolerance for the acute antipsychotic-like effect of NT1 agonists and thus lend support to the contention that NT1 agonists are viable candidates as putative novel antipsychotic drugs.

The rapid rise in antimicrobial resistance in bacteria has generated an increased demand for the development of novel therapies to treat contemporary infections, especially those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, antimicrobial development has been largely abandoned by the pharmaceutical industry. We recently isolated the previously described thiopeptide antibiotic nosiheptide from a marine actinomycete strain and evaluated its activity against contemporary clinically relevant bacterial pathogens. Nosiheptide exhibited extremely potent activity against all contemporary MRSA strains tested including multiple drug-resistant clinical isolates, with MIC values ≤ 0.25 mg/L. Nosiheptide was also highly active against Enterococcus spp and the contemporary hypervirulent BI strain of Clostridium difficile but was inactive against most Gram-negative strains tested. Time-kill analysis revealed nosiheptide to be rapidly bactericidal against MRSA in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with a nearly 2-log kill noted at 6 hours at 10X MIC. Furthermore, nosiheptide was found to be non-cytotoxic against mammalian cells at >> 100X MIC, and its anti-MRSA activity was not inhibited by 20% human serum. Notably, nosiheptide exhibited a significantly prolonged post-antibiotic effect (PAE) against both healthcare- and community-associated MRSA compared to vancomycin. Nosiheptide also demonstrated in vivo activity in a murine model of MRSA infection, and therefore represents a promising antibiotic for the treatment of serious infections caused by contemporary strains of MRSA.

The alarming rise of hospital- and community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA- and CA-MRSA) infections has prompted a desperate search for novel antibiotics. We discovered the streptogramin antibiotic, etamycin, for the first time from a newly discovered marine actinomycete and characterized its activity against a panel of HA- and CA-MRSA strains. Etamycin was extracted and purified from a previously uncharacterized marine-derived actinomycete, designated strain CNS-575, as a three-rotamer species as determined by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Etamycin demonstrated potent activity against hospital- and community-associated strains of MRSA in microbroth dilution assays, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) as low as 1 – 2 mg/L against HA- and CA-MRSA strains. Furthermore, etamycin was also active against other Gram-positive and several Gram-negative pathogens and was found to be non-cytotoxic at concentrations more than 20-fold above the MIC. Etamycin displayed favorable time-kill kinetics compared to the first-line MRSA antibiotic, vancomycin, and also conferred significant protection from mortality in a murine model of systemic lethal MRSA infection. These data emphasize the utility of the marine environment as a relatively untapped source of antibiotics against major drug-resistant human pathogens. These studies will also guide future isolation and preclinical development of depsipeptide anti-MRSA compounds from marine-derived actinomycetes.