2. Academic Validation
  3. Phenotypic Discovery of an Antivirulence Agent against Vibrio vulnificus via Modulation of Quorum-Sensing Regulator SmcR

Phenotypic Discovery of an Antivirulence Agent against Vibrio vulnificus via Modulation of Quorum-Sensing Regulator SmcR

  • ACS Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 13;6(11):3076-3082. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00587.
Seung Min Kim 1,  Jongmin Park 2,  Myun Soo Kim 3,  Heebum Song 2,  Ala Jo 2,  Hankum Park 2,  Tae Sung Kim 3,  Sang Ho Choi 1,  Seung Bum Park 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
  • 2 CRI Center for Chemical Proteomics, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
  • 3 Division of Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
PMID: 33086782 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00587
Abstract

An antivirulence agent against Vibrio vulnificus named quoromycin (QM) was discovered by a phenotype-based Elastase Inhibitor screening. Using the fluorescence difference in two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (FITGE) approach, SmcR, a quorum-sensing master regulator and homologue of LuxR, was identified as the target protein of QM. We confirmed that the direct binding of QM to SmcR inhibits the quorum-sensing signaling pathway by controlling the DNA-binding affinity of SmcR and thus effectively alleviates the virulence of V. vulnificus in vitro and in vivo. QM can be regarded as a novel antivirulence agent for the treatment of V. vulnificus Infection.

Keywords

SmcR; Vibrio vulnificus; antivirulence agent; quorum sensing; target identification.

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