No abstract

The preparation of a novel fluorescent lipid II-based substrate for transglycosylases (TGases) is described. This substrate has characteristic structural features including a shorter lipid chain, a fluorophore tag at the end of the lipid chain rather than on the peptide chain, and no labeling with a radioactive atom. This fluorescent substrate is readily utilized in TGase activity assays to characterize TGases and also to evaluate the activities of TGase inhibitors.

The development of iminocyclitol-based small molecule libraries against a bacterial TGase is described. An iminocyclitol was conjugated with a pyrophosphate mimic using either a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition or reductive amination reaction, which was then condensed with a variety of lipophilic carboxylic acids in an amide bond coupling to generate a desired molecular library. With assistance of microtiter plate-based combinatorial chemistry and in situ screening, a potential inhibitor, the first potent iminocyclitol-based inhibitor against bacterial TGases was efficiently developed.