2. Academic Validation
  3. ENOblock synergizes with colistin to treat Acinetobacter baumannii infections

ENOblock synergizes with colistin to treat Acinetobacter baumannii infections

  • EMBO Mol Med. 2025 Dec;17(12):3496-3524. doi: 10.1038/s44321-025-00331-2.
Irene Molina Panadero 1,  Antonio Moreno Rodríguez 1,  Angela Rey Hidalgo 1,  Mercedes de la Cruz 2,  Pilar Sánchez 2,  Laura Tomás Gallardo 3,  Thanadon Samernate 4,  Milan Sencanski 5,  Sanja Glisic 5,  Olga Genilloud 2,  Poochit Nonejuie 4,  Antonio J Pérez-Pulido 1 6,  Abdelkrim Hmadcha 6 7,  Younes Smani 8 9
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Universidad Pablo de Olavide/CSIC/Junta de Andalucía, Seville, 41013, Spain.
  • 2 Fundación MEDINA, Parque Tecnológico Ciencias de la Salud, Granada, 18016, España.
  • 3 Proteomics and Biochemistry Platform. Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo. Universidad Pablo de Olavide/CSIC/Junta de Andalucía, Seville, 41013, Spain.
  • 4 Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
  • 5 Laboratory for Bioinformatics and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 11001, Serbia.
  • 6 Departamento de Biología Molecular e Ingeniería Bioquímica, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, 41013, Spain.
  • 7 Biosanitary Research Institute (IIB-VIU), Valencian International University (VIU), Valencia, 46021, Spain.
  • 8 Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Universidad Pablo de Olavide/CSIC/Junta de Andalucía, Seville, 41013, Spain. [email protected].
  • 9 Departamento de Biología Molecular e Ingeniería Bioquímica, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, 41013, Spain. [email protected].
PMID: 41174184 DOI: 10.1038/s44321-025-00331-2
Abstract

High-throughput screening studies provide an additional approach to discovering repurposed drugs for antimicrobial treatments. In this work, we report the identification of ENOblock, an Anticancer drug, as an antimicrobial agent. We computationally and experimentally validated that ENOblock synergizes with colistin, the last resort Antibiotic. Additionally, we identified Enolase as the potential Bacterial target for ENOblock. The in silico and in vitro Antibacterial activity of ENOblock translated into potent in vivo efficacy in an animal Infection model. Collectively, the preclinical data support the selection of ENOblock as a promising candidate for antimicrobial development, with the potential to address the urgent threat of infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii.

Keywords

Acinetobacter baumannii; Drug Repurposing; ENOblock; Enolase.

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