Increasing resistance to antibiotics necessitates discovery of new targets and strategies to combat bacteria. Ideal protein targets are required for viability across many species, are unique to prokaryotes to limit effects on the host and have robust assays to quantitate activity and identify novel inhibitors. Lipoprotein signal peptidase (Lsp) is a transmembrane aspartyl protease required for lipoprotein maturation and entirely fits these criteria. We have developed the first in vitro high-throughput assay to monitor proteolysis by Lsp. We employed our HTS assay against 646,275 compounds to discover inhibitors of Lsp and synthesized a range of analogues to generate molecules with nanomolar IC50 values. Importantly, our inhibitors are effective in preventing the growth of E. coli cultures. Our Lsp assay will be a useful tool for biologists to monitor Lsp activity and our inhibitors will facilitate development of antibacterial agents to potentially treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
抗生素的抗性增加使得必须发现新的靶点和策略来对抗细菌。理想的蛋白靶点需要在许多物种中具有生存能力,对原核
生物独特,以限制对宿主的影响,并且具有强大的测定活性和识别新型
抑制剂的方法。脂蛋白信号肽酶(Lsp)是一种跨膜
天冬氨酸蛋白酶,用于脂蛋白成熟,完全符合这些标准。我们开发了第一个体外高通量测定来监测Lsp的蛋白
水解作用。我们使用我们的高通量筛选测定对646,275种化合物进行了筛选,以发现Lsp的
抑制剂,并合成了一系列类似物,生成具有纳摩尔IC50值的分子。重要的是,我们的
抑制剂能够有效地阻止大肠杆菌培养物的生长。我们的Lsp测定将成为
生物学家监测Lsp活性的有用工具,我们的
抑制剂将有助于开发抗菌剂,可能用于治疗抗生素耐药细菌。