A critical goal of lead compound selection and optimization is to maximize target engagement whilst minimizing off-target binding. Since target engagement is a function of both the thermodynamics and kinetics of drug-target interactions, it follows that the structures of both the ground states and transition states on the binding reaction coordinate are needed to rationally modulate the lifetime of the drug-target complex. Previously, we predicted the structure of the rate-limiting transition state that controlled the time-dependent inhibition of the enoyl-ACP reductase InhA. This led to the discovery of a triazole-containing diphenyl ether with an increased residence time on InhA due to transition state destabilization rather than ground state stabilization. In the present work, we have evaluated the inhibition of InhA by 14 triazole-based diphenyl ethers and used a combination of enzyme kinetics and X-ray crystallography to generate a structure-kinetic relationship (SKR) for time-dependent binding. We show that the triazole motif slows the rate of formation for the final drug-target complex by up to three orders of magnitude. In addition, we identify a novel inhibitor with a residence time on InhA of 220 min which is 3.5-fold longer than that of the INH-NAD adduct formed by the tuberculosis drug, isoniazid. This study provides a clear example in which the lifetime of the drug-target complex is controlled by interactions in the transition state for inhibitor binding rather than the ground state of the enzyme-inhibitor complex, and demonstrates the important role that on-rates can play in drug-target residence time.

Target vulnerability correlates the level of drug–target engagement required to generate a pharmacological response. High vulnerability targets are those that require only a relatively small fraction of occupancy to achieve the desired pharmacological outcome, whereas low vulnerability targets require high levels of engagement. Here, we demonstrate that the slope of the correlation between drug–target residence time and the post-antibiotic effect (PAE) can be used to define the vulnerability of bacterial targets. For macrolides, a steep slope is observed between residence time on the E. coli ribosome and the PAE, indicating that the ribosome is a highly vulnerable drug target. The analysis of the residence time–PAE data for erythromycin, azithromycin, spiramycin, and telithromycin using a mechanistic pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic model that integrates drug–target kinetics into predictions of drug activity lead to the successful prediction of the cellular PAE for tylosin, which has the longest residence time (7.1 h) and PAE (5.8 h). Although the macrolide data support a connection between residence time, PAE, and bactericidality, many bactericidal β-lactam antibiotics do not give a PAE, illustrating the role of factors such as protein resynthesis in the expression of target vulnerability.

The enoyl-ACP reductase (ENR) catalyzes the last reaction in the elongation cycle of the bacterial type II fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS-II) pathway. While the FabI ENR is a well validated drug target in organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus, alternate ENR isoforms have been discovered in other pathogens including the FabV enzyme that is the sole ENR in Yersinia pestis (ypFabV). Previously, we showed that the prototypical ENR inhibitor triclosan was a poor inhibitor of ypFabV and that inhibitors based on the 2-pyridone scaffold were more potent. These studies were performed with the T276S FabV variant. In the present work, we describe a detailed examination of the mechanism and inhibition of wild-type ypFabV and the T276S variant. The T276S mutation significantly reduces the affinity of diphenyl ether inhibitors for ypFabV (20->100 fold). In addition, while T276S ypFabV generally displays higher affinity for 2-pyridone inhibitors compared to the wild-type enzyme, the 4-pyridone scaffold yields compounds with similar affinity for both wild-type and T276S ypFabV. T276 is located at the N-terminus of the helical substrate-binding loop, and structural studies coupled with site-directed mutagenesis reveal that alterations in this residue modulate the size of the active site portal. Subsequently we were able to probe the mechanism of time-dependent inhibition in this enzyme family by extending the inhibition studies to include P142W ypFabV, a mutation that results in gain of slow-onset inhibition for the 4-pyridone PT156.

The enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase (ENR) is a key enzyme within the bacterial fatty-acid synthesis pathway. It has been demonstrated that small-molecule inhibitors carrying the diphenylether (DPE) scaffold bear a great potential for the development of highly specific and effective drugs against this enzyme class. Interestingly, different substitution patterns of the DPE scaffold have been shown to lead to varying effects on the kinetic and thermodynamic behavior toward ENRs from different organisms. Here, we investigated the effect of a 4′-pyridone substituent in the context of the slow tight-binding inhibitor SKTS1 on the inhibition of the Staphylococcus aureus enoyl-ACP-reductase saFabI and the closely related isoenzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, InhA, and explored a new interaction site of DPE inhibitors within the substrate-binding pocket. Using high-resolution crystal structures of both complexes in combination with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, kinetic measurements, and quantum mechanical (QM) calculations, we provide evidence that the 4′-pyridone substituent adopts different tautomeric forms when bound to the two ENRs. We furthermore elucidate the structural determinants leading to significant differences in the residence time of SKTS1 on both enzymes.

There is growing awareness of the link between drug-target residence time and in vivo drug activity, and there are increasing efforts to determine the molecular factors that control the lifetime of a drug-target complex. Rational alterations in drug-target residence time require knowledge of both the ground and transition states on the inhibition reaction coordinate, and we have determined the structure-kinetic relationship for 22 ethyl or hexyl substituted diphenyl ethers that are slow-binding inhibitors of bpFabI1, the enoyl-ACP reductase FabI1 from Burkholderia pseudomallei. Analysis of enzyme inhibition using a 2D-kinetic map demonstrates that the ethyl and hexyl diphenyl ethers fall into two distinct clusters. Modifications to the ethyl diphenyl ether B ring result in changes to both on and off-rates, where residence times of up to ~700 min (~11 h) are achieved by either ground state stabilization (PT444) or transition state destabilization (slower on-rate) (PT404). By contrast, modifications to the hexyl diphenyl ether B ring result in residence times of 300 min (~5 h) through changes in only ground state stabilization (PT119). Structural analysis of 9 enzyme:inhibitor complexes reveal that the variation in structure-kinetic relationships can be rationalized by structural rearrangements of bpFabI1 and subtle changes to the orientation of the inhibitor in the binding pocket. Finally, we demonstrate that three compounds with residence times on bpFabI1 of between 118 min (~2 h) and 670 min (~11 h) have in vivo efficacy in an acute B. pseudomallei murine infection model using the virulent B. pseudomallei strain Bp400.