2. Academic Validation
  3. Investigations to the Antibacterial Mechanism of Action of Kendomycin

Investigations to the Antibacterial Mechanism of Action of Kendomycin

  • PLoS One. 2016 Jan 21;11(1):e0146165. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146165.
Yasser A Elnakady 1 2,  Indranil Chatterjee 3,  Markus Bischoff 3,  Manfred Rohde 4,  Michaele Josten 5,  Hans-Georg Sahl 5,  Mathias Herrmann 3,  Rolf Müller 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Microbial Natural Products, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
  • 2 Faculty of Science, Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • 3 Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
  • 4 Department of Medical Microbiology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
  • 5 Department of Medical Microbiology, Bonn University, Bonn, Germany.
PMID: 26795276 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146165
Abstract

Purpose: The emergence of bacteria that are resistant to many currently used drugs emphasizes the need to discover and develop new Antibiotics that are effective against such multi-resistant strains. Kendomycin is a novel polyketide that has a unique quinone methide ansa structure and various biological properties. This compound exhibits strong Antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Despite the promise of kendomycinin in several therapeutic areas, its mode of action has yet to be identified.

Methods: In this study, we used a multidisciplinary approach to gain insight into the Antibacterial mechanism of this compound.

Results: The Antibacterial activity of kendomycin appears to be bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal. Kendomycin inhibited the growth of the MRSA strain COL at a low concentration (MIC of 5 μg/mL). Proteomic analysis and gene transcription profiling of kendomycin-treated cells indicated that this compound affected the regulation of numerous proteins and genes involved in central metabolic pathways, such as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle (SdhA) and gluconeogenesis (PckA and GapB), cell wall biosynthesis and cell division (FtsA, FtsZ, and MurAA), capsule production (Cap5A and Cap5C), Bacterial programmed cell death (LrgA and CidA), the cellular stress response (ClpB, ClpC, ClpP, GroEL, DnaK, and GrpE), and oxidative stress (AhpC and KatA). Electron microscopy revealed that kendomycin strongly affected septum formation during cell division. Most kendomycin-treated cells displayed incomplete septa with abnormal morphology.

Conclusions: Kendomycin might directly or indirectly affect the cell division machinery, protein stability, and programmed cell death in S. aureus. Additional studies are still needed to obtain deeper insight into the mode of action of kendomycin.

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