A series of pleuromutilin derivatives containing alkylamine and nitrogen heterocycle groups were designed and synthesised under mild conditions. The
in vitro
antibacterial activity of these semisynthetic derivatives against four strains of
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA ATCC 43300,
S.aureus
ATCC 29213,
S.aureus
AD3, and
S.aureus
144) were evaluated by the broth dilution method. Compound
13
was found to have excellent antibacterial activity against MRSA (MIC = 0.0625 μg/mL). Furthermore, compound
13
was further studied by the time-killing kinetics and the post-antibiotic effect approach. In the mouse thigh infection model, compound
13
exhibited superior antibacterial efficacy than that of tiamulin. Meanwhile, compound
13
showed a lower inhibitory effect than that of tiamulin on RAW264.7 and 16HBE cells at the concentration of 10 μg/mL. Molecular docking study revealed that compound
13
can effectively bind to the active site of the 50S ribosome (the binding free energy = −9.66 kcal/mol).
A series of pleuromutilin derivatives containing benzimidazole were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antibacterial activities against Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in this study. The in vitro antibacterial activities of the synthesized derivatives against four strains of S. aureus (MRSA ATCC 43300, S. aureus ATCC 29213, S. aureus 144, and S. aureus AD3) were determined by the broth dilution method. Among these derivatives, compound 58 exhibited superior in vitro antibacterial effect against MRSA (minimal inhibitory concentration [MIC] = 0.0625 μg/mL) than tiamulin (MIC = 0.5 μg/mL). Compound 58 possessed a faster bactericidal kinetic and a longer post‐antibiotic effect time against MRSA than tiamulin. Meanwhile, at 8 μg/mL concentration, compound 58 did not display obviously cytotoxic effect on the RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, compound 58 (−2.04 log10 CFU/mL) displayed superior in vivo antibacterial efficacy than tiamulin (−1.02 log10 CFU/mL) in reducing MRSA load in mice thigh infection model. In molecular docking study, compound 58 can successfully attach to the 50S ribosomal active site (the binding free energy is −8.11 kcal/mol). Therefore, compound 58 was a potential antibacterial candidate for combating MRSA infections.
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