SummaryIn Staphylococcus aureus, the agr locus is responsible for controlling virulence gene expression via quorum sensing. As the blockade of quorum sensing offers a novel strategy for attenuating infection, we sought to gain novel insights into the structure, activity and turnover of the secreted staphylococcal autoinducing peptide (AIP) signal molecules. A series of analogues (including the L-alanine and D-amino acid scanned peptides) was synthesized to determine the functionally critical residues within the S. aureus group I AIP. As a consequence, we established that (i) the group I AIP is inactivated in culture supernatants by the formation of the corresponding methionyl sulphoxide; and (ii) the group I AIP lactam analogue retains the capacity to activate agr, suggesting that covalent modification of the AgrC receptor is not a necessary prerequisite for agr activation. Although each of the D-amino acid scanned AIP analogues retained activity, replacement of the endocyclic amino acid residue (aspartate) located C-terminally to the central cysteine with alanine converted the group I AIP from an activator to a potent inhibitor. The screening of clinical S. aureus isolates for novel AIP groups revealed a variant that differed from the group I AIP by a single amino acid residue (aspartate to tyrosine) in the same position defined as critical by alanine scanning. Although this AIP inhibits group I S. aureus strains, the producer strains possess a functional agr locus dependent on the endogenous peptide and, as such, constitute a fourth S. aureus AIP pheromone group (group IV). The addition of exogenous synthetic AIPs to S. aureus inhibited the production of toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1) and enterotoxin C3, confirming the potential of quorum-sensing blockade as a therapeutic strategy.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), otherwise termed 'endotoxins', are outer-membrane constituents of Gram-negative bacteria. Lipopolysaccharides play a key role in the pathogenesis of 'Septic Shock', a major cause of mortality in the critically ill patient. Therapeutic options aimed at limiting downstream systemic inflammatory processes by targeting lipopolysaccharide do not exist at the present time. We have defined the pharmacophore necessary for small molecules to specifically bind and neutralize LPS and, using animal models of sepsis, have shown that the sequestration of circulatory LPS by small molecules is a therapeutically viable strategy. In this paper, the interactions of a series of acylated homologated spermine compounds with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been characterized. The optimal acyl chain length for effective sequestration of LPS was identified to be C 16 for the mono-acyl compounds. The most promising of these compounds, 4e, binds LPS with an ED 50 of 1.37 μM. Nitric oxide production in murine J774A.1 cells, as well as TNF-α in human blood, are inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by 4e at concentrations orders of magnitude lower than toxic doses. Administration of 4e to D-galactosamine-sensitized mice challenged with supralethal doses of LPS provided significant protection against lethality. Potent anti-endotoxic activity, low toxicity, and ease of synthesis render this class of compounds candidate endotoxin-sequestering agents of potential significant therapeutic value.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), otherwise termed 'endotoxins', are outer-membrane constituents of Gram-negative bacteria. Lipopolysaccharides play a key role in the pathogenesis of 'Septic Shock', a major cause of mortality in the critically ill patient. Therapeutic options aimed at limiting downstream systemic inflammatory processes by targeting lipopolysaccharide do not exist at the present time. We have defined the pharmacophore necessary for small molecules to specifically bind and neutralize LPS, and have shown using animal models of sepsis that the sequestration of circulatory LPS by small molecules is a therapeutically viable strategy. Assays reported previously in the literature do not lend themselves well to the rapid screening of large numbers of structurally diverse compounds. In this report, we describe a highly sensitive and robust fluorescent displacement assay using BODIPY TR cadaverine (BC), which binds specifically to the toxic center of LPS, lipid A, and is competitively displaced by compounds displaying an affinity for lipid A. The assay clearly discriminates subtle differences in the binding of polymyxin B, and its nonapeptide derivative, with LPS. The spectral properties of the BODIPY fluorophore are ideally suited for screening diverse structural classes of compounds, including those with conjugated aromatic groups, or with chromophores in the 260-500 nm range. The fluorescent probe: LPS complex is stable under physiologically relevant salt concentrations, resulting in the rapid rejection of spurious binders interacting via non-specific electrostatic interactions, and, therefore, in greatly improved dispersion of ED(50)values.

A homologous series of mono-and bis-acyl polyamines with varying acyl chain lengths originally synthesized for the purpose of sequestering lipopolysaccharide were evaluated for antimicrobial activity to test the hypothesis that these bis-cationic amphipathic compounds may also bind to and permeabilize intact gramnegative bacterial membranes. Some compounds were found to possess significant antimicrobial activity, mediated via permeabilization of bacterial membranes. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed a strong dependence of the acyl chain length on antimicrobial potency and permeabilization activity. Homologated spermine, bis-acylated with C 8 or C 9 chains, was found to profoundly sensitize Escherichia coli to hydrophobic antibiotics such as rifampin. Nonspecific cytotoxicity is a potential drawback of these membranophilic compounds. However, the surface activity of these cationic amphipaths is strongly attenuated under physiological conditions via binding to serum albumin. Significant antibacterial activity is still retained in the presence of physiological concentrations of human serum albumin, suggesting that these compounds may serve as leads in the development of novel adjuncts to conventional antimicrobial chemotherapy.The accelerated emergence of many strains of multidrugresistant bacteria as a result of widespread use and misuse of antibiotics has mandated the urgent need for a renewed search for novel antibacterial agents. The presence of an outer membrane (OM) in gram-negative bacteria provides an effective protective barrier in these organisms (33, 34) to antimicrobial agents that may otherwise be active. For instance, it has been reported that in antibiotics of natural origin that are active against gram-positive bacteria, more than 90% lacked activity at a useful level against Escherichia coli (55). The barrier, formed by a divalent cation-cross-linked matrix (36, 40) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules on the outer leaflet of the OM (17, 48), can be breached by metal-chelating agents such as EDTA or via displacement of LPS-bound metals by polycations of diverse structural classes (20,36,40,54,57).Polymyxin B (PMB), a cyclic, pentacationic, amphipathic peptide antibiotic isolated from Bacillus polymyxa (49) is a prototype membrane-perturbing agent whose antibacterial action is manifested via its binding to the lipid A moiety of LPS. Perturbation of the OM alone has been thought to result in bacterial killing, since immobilized PMB can disrupt the OM (41); however, alternate hypotheses concerning "self-promoted" uptake of the antibiotic and subsequent perturbation of the inner membrane (IM), culminating in bacterial lysis, have also been suggested (11, 64). The recognition that membrane-active antimicrobials have not yet been exploited adequately in the clinic has spurred the search for noncytolytic, selective bacterial membrane-permeabilizing agents, notable examples of which include cationic peptides (18,19) and smallmolecule PMB mimics (12,13,27,44). The use of cationic peptides as...

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