Genome-Directed Lead Discovery: Biosynthesis, Structure Elucidation, and Biological Evaluation of Two Families of Polyene Macrolactams against Trypanosoma brucei

Christopher J. Schulze, Mohamed S. Donia, Jair L. Siqueira-Neto, Debalina Ray, Jevgenij A. Raskatov, Richard E. Green, James H. McKerrow, Michael A. Fischbach, Roger G. Linington

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

69 Scopus citations

Abstract

Marine natural products are an important source of lead compounds against many pathogenic targets. Herein, we report the discovery of lobosamides A-C from a marine actinobacterium, Micromonospora sp., representing three new members of a small but growing family of bacterially produced polyene macrolactams. The lobosamides display growth inhibitory activity against the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei (lobosamide A IC50 = 0.8 μM), the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). The biosynthetic gene cluster of the lobosamides was sequenced and suggests a conserved cluster organization among the 26-membered macrolactams. While determination of the relative and absolute configurations of many members of this family is lacking, the absolute configurations of the lobosamides were deduced using a combination of chemical modification, detailed spectroscopic analysis, and bioinformatics. We implemented a "molecules-to-genes-to-molecules" approach to determine the prevalence of similar clusters in other bacteria, which led to the discovery of two additional macrolactams, mirilactams A and B from Actinosynnema mirum. These additional analogs have allowed us to identify specific structure-activity relationships that contribute to the antitrypanosomal activity of this class. This approach illustrates the power of combining chemical analysis and genomics in the discovery and characterization of natural products as new lead compounds for neglected disease targets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2373-2381
Number of pages9
JournalACS chemical biology
Volume10
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 16 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Biochemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Genome-Directed Lead Discovery: Biosynthesis, Structure Elucidation, and Biological Evaluation of Two Families of Polyene Macrolactams against Trypanosoma brucei'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this