“Antibacterials, bacterial small molecule interactions and quorum sensing” has become a highly active research area due to the basic science challenge and the ever-increasing problems with antimicrobial resistance.
Potential topics for manuscripts include, but are not limited to:
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Helical wheel projections of Dec-NH2 and its analogs, where the yellow circles refer to the hydroph...
Figure 2: MTT assays using Dec-NH2 and its synthetic analogs after 2 and 24 h of exposure to MCF-7 cancer cel...
Figure 3: MTT assays evaluating the toxicity of Dec-NH2 and its derivatives towards MCF-10A normal cells afte...
Figure 4: Cell death analysis using flow cytometry. Dot plot graphs from left to right, show cells treated wi...
Figure 5: Topological images of untreated MCF-7 cells (A) and cells treated for 24 h with 50 μmol L−1 of Dec-...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: The competence regulon QS circuitry in S. pneumoniae. ComC is processed and secreted by ComAB as th...
Figure 2: Assessment of protein–peptide binding pockets. Key side-chain residues (black) can either fully occ...
Figure 3: Design of CSP1 analogs. The CSP1 sequence is presented using the one-letter amino acid code. Residu...
Figure 4: Helical wheel representation of CSP1. The CSP1 residues are presented using the one-letter amino ac...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Structures of leopolic acid A and compound 1.
Scheme 1: Synthesis of 3-decyltetramic intermediate 13. Reagent and conditions: a) TEA, THF, 0 °C to rt, 2.5 ...
Scheme 2: Synthesis of dipeptide L-Phe-L-Val intermediate 20. Reagents and conditions: a) PTSA·H2O, benzyl al...
Scheme 3: Synthesis of compound 1. Reagents and conditions: a) n-BuLi, THF, −60 °C, 220 min, 60%; b) H2, Pd/C...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Graphic representation of the bacterial adherence to inert substrata (A) and biofilms developed aft...
Figure 2: Graphic representation of the adherence index to cellular substrata of PAO1 strain treated with 20 ...
Figure 3: Fluorescence microscopy images of QSSMs treated euckariote cells, revealing attachment patterns. (C...
Figure 4: Flow cytometry assays for inflammatory (IL-1β, IL-6), and adhesion markers (ICAM-1, PECAM-1, P-sele...
Figure 5: Expression levels (fold change) in qRT-PCR experiments for IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, TGFβ, eNOS, VE-cadher...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: The four quorum sensing systems in P. aeruginosa las, iqs, rhl, and pqs. Abbreviations: OdDHL, N-(3...
Figure 2: Schematic overview of the PQS biosynthesis and involvement of related metabolites and PqsE in virul...
Figure 3: Anthranilic acid (1) and derivatives thereof (2–4).
Figure 4: Crystal structure of 6-FABA-AMP in complex with PqsA.
Figure 5: Structures of substrate mimetic PqsA inhibitors.
Figure 6: Structures and characteristics of prominent classes of PqsD inhibitors.
Figure 7: Comparison of docking poses of three prototypic PqsD inhibitors: benzamidobenzoic acid derivative 12...
Figure 8: Structures and characteristics of hits against PqsD identified through different methods.
Figure 9: HHQ and PQS analogues as PqsD inhibitors and chemical probe used for screening.
Figure 10: Structure of PqsD-targeting biofilm inhibitor derived from linezolid.
Figure 11: Fragment-based PqsE-inhibitors 24–26.
Figure 12: PqsE co-crystal structures. (A) native product 2-ABA; (B–D) hit fragments 24–26.
Figure 13: Structurally diverse PqsBC-inhibitors 27–30.
Figure 14: Native PqsR ligand HHQ (31) which is converted into PQS (32) by PqsH and synthetic inhibitors 33 an...
Figure 15: Quinazolinone inhibitor 36 (QZN).
Figure 16: Crystal structure of QZN (36) in complex with PqsRCBD.
Figure 17: Structures of best fitting compounds 37–40 obtained from docking studies.
Figure 18: Initial hit 21 and optimized compound 42 (M64).
Figure 19: Co-crystal structure of M64 (42) with PqsRLBD.
Figure 20: M64 (42) as the starting point for further optimization leading to 43, which was further modified a...
Figure 21: Hit fragments from the benzamide (47–48) and oxadiazole class (49–51).
Figure 22: Structures of dual inhibitors 52–55.
Figure 23: Sulfonyl pyrimidines 56–58 acting as dual PqsD/PqsR inhibitors.
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: NDH-2 is a validated target for 1 with an MIC of 1.1 µg/mL against M. tuberculosis.
Scheme 1: Synthesis of phenothiazine-PEG-amine component.
Scheme 2: Synthesis of the azotochelin siderophore component.
Scheme 3: Final conjugation and deprotection to yield a phenothiazine siderophore conjugate.
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: A) Overview of LuxI/LuxR-type QS. The LuxI-type protein produces the AHL signal. The AHL diffuses o...
Figure 2: Overview of SdiA agonism and antagonism single-point screening results in the S. Typhimurium report...
Figure 3: Chemical structures of the most potent SdiA agonists. Compound names (except for 11-Az) match those...
Figure 4: Chemical structures of the most potent SdiA antagonists. Compound names preceded by letters match t...
Figure 5: Dose–response activity curves for OOHL (2) in competition against various concentrations of synthet...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: A family of quinolone natural products 1–8, which were first isolated from Pseudonocardia sp. CL384...
Scheme 1: Proposed use of the chemistry developed towards the total synthesis of 5 and 6 for generation of na...
Scheme 2: Sonagashira coupling of alkynes 10a and 10b with commercially available acid chloride 9 to give yno...
Scheme 3: Conjugate addition of primary amines 12a–f with ynones 11a and 11b. aFollowing concentration in vac...
Scheme 4: Cyclisation of precursors 13 to natural product analogues 14 using palladium- or copper-catalysed c...
Scheme 5: Use of an excess of DMEDA in the Cu-catalysed cyclisation of 13bb resulted in the generation of 14bg...
Figure 2: Growth of E. coli ESS with time in the presence of 200 μM of each compound. A) Natural product seri...
Figure 3: Growth of S. aureus 25923 with time in the presence of 200 μM of each compound. A) Natural product ...
Figure 4: OD520 (absorption corresponding to pyocyanin) normalised by the culture population (measured by OD6...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Structures of hamamelitannin (1), lead compound 2 and target compounds 3.
Scheme 1: Proposed strategy for the synthesis of the target analogues.
Scheme 2: Synthesis of fragment 9. Reagents and conditions: a) phthalimide, Pd2(allyl)2Cl2, ligand 15, Na2CO3...
Scheme 3: Synthesis of fragment 10. Reagents and conditions: a) TBSCl, NaH, THF, rt; b) phthalimide, PPh3, DE...
Scheme 4: Coupling of 9 and 10 and attempted ring-closing metathesis. Reagents and conditions: a) PPh3, DEAD,...
Scheme 5: Synthesis of alternative eastern fragment 23. Reagents and conditions: a) TBSCl, imidazole, CH2Cl2,...
Scheme 6: Synthesis of 4. Reagents and conditions: a) PPh3, DEAD, THF, 0 °C to rt; b) Grubbs–Hoveyda II (5 mo...
Scheme 7: Late stage functionalization of the pyrrolidine nitrogen. Reagents and conditions: A) (masked) alde...
Figure 2: Molecular X-ray structure of 3a, showing thermal displacement ellipsoids at the 50% probability lev...
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Illustration of a PPI modulator (stabilizer or inhibitor) vs a traditional drug target.
Figure 2: Examples of protein–protein interaction modulators in clinical trials or in clinical use.
Figure 3: Small-molecule inhibitors of PPIs in the β-sliding clamp.
Figure 4: Crystal structure of the RU7 (9)-sliding clamp complex (PDB code 3D1G; adapted from Georgescu et al...
Figure 5: Peptidic inhibitors of PPIs in the sliding clamp.
Figure 6: SSB protein–protein interaction inhibitors identified by HTS.
Figure 7: SSB protein–protein interaction inhibitors identified by FBDD.
Figure 8: Examples of molecules that disrupt the ZipA/FtsZ interaction.
Figure 9: Inhibitors of the NusB/NusE interaction.
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1: Structures and MICs of Pt-based compounds against P. aeruginosa PAO1.
Figure 2: Transcriptomic analysis of control and cisplatin-treated PAO1 cultures. Heatmap comparing the trans...
Figure 3: Function enrichment of differentially expressed genes from the transcriptomic analysis. A dot-lot f...
Figure 4: Cisplatin fast-kill assay against the P. aeruginosa PAO1, ΔrecA mutant and the ΔrecACOM strain. P. ...
Figure 5: Cisplatin treatment represses T3SS associated virulence. (A) Cisplatin treatment downregulated the ...
Figure 6: P. aeruginosa biofilm killing assay by cisplatin, tobramycin and their combinations. P. aeruginosa ...
Figure 7: Cisplatin treatment attenuates P. aeruginosa infections. CFU mL−1 of PAO1 obtained from corneas wit...