Polyacylated neohesperidosides from Geranium caespitosum: bacterial multidrug resistance pump inhibitors

Bioassay-directed fractionation for Staphylococcus aureus multidrug resistance efflux pump inhibitors resulted in isolation of novel acylated neohesperidosides from Geranium caespitosum. The more highly acylated compounds had no direct activity against S. aureus, but potentiated activity of the antibiotics berberine, rhein, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. Cellular concentrations of berberine were greatly increased in the presence of active esters.     

Analysis of the inhibition potential of zosuquidar derivatives on selected bacterial and fungal ABC transporters

Abstract

The increasing number of multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms is a serious public health issue. Among the multitude of mechanisms that lead to multidrug resistance, the active extrusion of toxic compounds, mediated by MDR efflux pumps, plays an important role. In our study we analyzed the inhibitory capability of 26 synthesized zosuquidar derivatives on three ABC-type MDR efflux pumps, namely Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pdr5 as well as Lactococcus lactis LmrA and LmrCD. For Pdr5, five compounds could be identified that inhibited rhodamine 6G transport more efficiently than zosuquidar. One of these is a compound with a new catechol acetal structure that might represent a new lead compound. Furthermore, the determination of IC₅₀ values for rhodamine 6G transport of Pdr5 with representative compounds reveals values between 0.3 and 0.9 μM. Thus the identified compounds are among the most potent inhibitors known for Pdr5. For the ABC-type efflux pumps LmrA and LmrCD from L. lactis, seven and three compounds, which inhibit the transport activity more than the lead compound zosuquidar, were found. Interestingly, transport inhibition for LmrCD was very specific, with a drastic reduction by one compound while its diastereomers showed hardly an effect. Thus, the present study reveals new potent inhibitors for the ABC-type MDR efflux pumps studied with the inhibitors of Pdr5 and LmrCD being of particular interest as these proteins are well known model systems for their homologs in pathogenic fungi and Gram-positive bacteria.     

Synthesis and evaluation of PSSRI-based inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus multidrug efflux pumps

Phenylpiperidine selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (PSSRIs) block the function of selected multidrug efflux pumps of Staphylococcus aureus. In this study PSSRI-based piperidine derivatives were prepared, evaluated for inhibition of two multidrug resistance (MDR)-conferring efflux pump systems, and tested for potentiation of antimicrobial activity of antibacterial efflux pump substrates. It is demonstrated that the 4-phenyl moiety of PSSRI-based efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) is not an absolute structural requirement for inhibiting the NorA and MepA MDR efflux pumps. Potency of efflux inhibition is maintained or enhanced by replacing the aryloxymethyl substituent at position-3 of PSSRIs with arylalkene and arylthioether moieties. Novel 3-aryl piperidine EPIs that significantly increase substrate antibiotic activity against strains of S. aureus expressing NorA and MepA are described.     

Synthesis of functionalized 2-aryl-5-nitro-1H-indoles and their activity as bacterial NorA efflux pump inhibitors

In order to develop structure-activity relationships and to provide access to antibacterial agents for dual action studies, a variety of aryl group-substituted 2-aryl-5-nitro-1H-indoles were synthesized and the activity of the compounds assessed as inhibitors of the NorA multidrug resistance pump in the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. The NorA protein from the major facilitator superfamily of efflux pumps confers resistance to a variety of structurally dissimilar antimicrobials such as norfloxacin, ethidium bromide, berberine and acriflavin. The compound [4-benzyloxy-2-(5-nitro-1H-2-yl)-phenyl]-methanol was the most potent pump inhibitor.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of LBM-A5 derivatives as potent P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance inhibitors

A novel series of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) inhibitors with triazol-N-phenethyl-tetrahydroisoquinoline or triazol-N-ethyl-tetrahydroisoquinoline scaffold were designed and synthesized via click chemistry. Most of the synthesized compounds showed higher reversal activity than verapamil (VRP). Among them, the most potent compound 4 showed a comparable activity with the known potent P-gp inhibitor WK-X-34 with lower cytotoxicity toward K562 cells (IC₅₀ >100 μM). Compared with VRP, compound 4 exhibited more potency in increasing drug accumulation in K562/A02 MDR cells. Moreover, compound 4 could significantly reverse MDR in a dose-dependent manner and also persist longer chemo-sensitizing effect than VRP with reversibility. Further mechanism studies revealed that compound 4 could remarkably increase the intracellular accumulation of Adriamycin (ADM) in K562/A02 cells as well as inhibit rhodamine-123 (Rh123) efflux from the cells. These results suggested that compound 4 may represent a promising candidate for developing P-gp-mediated MDR inhibitors.     

Antibacterials and modulators of bacterial resistance from the immature cones of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

As part of an on-going project to characterize compounds from immature conifer cones with antibacterial or modulatory activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of Staphylococcus aureus, eight compounds were isolated from the cones of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana. The active compounds were mainly diterpenes, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 4 to 128 microg/ml against MDR effluxing S. aureus strains and two epidemic methicillin-resistant (EMRSA) clinical isolates. The compounds extracted were the diterpenes ferruginol, pisiferol and its epimer 5-epipisiferol, formosanoxide, trans-communic acid and torulosal, the sesquiterpene oplopanonyl acetate and the germacrane 4beta-hydroxygermacra-1(10)-5-diene. Some of these compounds also exhibited modulatory activity in potentiating antibiotic activity against effluxing strains and ferruginol, used at a sub-inhibitory concentration, resulted in an 80-fold potentiation of oxacillin activity against strain EMRSA-15. An efflux inhibition assay using an S. aureus strain possessing the MDR NorA efflux pump resulted in 40% inhibition of ethidium bromide efflux at 10 microM ferruginol (2.86 microg/ml). We report the (1)H and (13)C NMR data for the cis A/B ring junction epimer of pisiferol which we have named 5-epipisiferol. We also unambiguously assign all (1)H and (13)C NMR resonances for trans-communic acid.     

Modulation of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance by acceleration of passive drug permeation across the plasma membrane

The drug concentration inside multidrug-resistant cells is the outcome of competition between the active export of drugs by drug efflux pumps, such as P-glycoprotein (Pgp), and the passive permeation of drugs across the plasma membrane. Thus, reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) can occur either by inhibition of the efflux pumps or by acceleration of the drug permeation. Among the hundreds of established modulators of Pgp-mediated MDR, there are numerous surface-active agents potentially capable of accelerating drug transbilayer movement. The aim of the present study was to determine whether these agents modulate MDR by interfering with the active efflux of drugs or by allowing for accelerated passive permeation across the plasma membrane. Whereas Pluronic P85, Tween-20, Triton X-100 and Cremophor EL modulated MDR by inhibition of Pgp-mediated efflux, with no appreciable effect on transbilayer movement of drugs, the anesthetics chloroform, benzyl alcohol, diethyl ether and propofol modulated MDR by accelerating transbilayer movement of drugs, with no concomitant inhibition of Pgp-mediated efflux. At higher concentrations than those required for modulation, the anesthetics accelerated the passive permeation to such an extent that it was not possible to estimate Pgp activity. The capacity of the surface-active agents to accelerate passive drug transbilayer movement was not correlated with their fluidizing characteristics, measured as fluorescence anisotropy of 1-(4-trimethylammonium)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene. This compound is located among the headgroups of the phospholipids and does not reflect the fluidity in the lipid core of the membranes where the limiting step of drug permeation, namely drug flip-flop, occurs.     

Staphylococcus aureus MDR efflux pump inhibitors from a Berberis and a Mahonia (sensu strictu) species

Bioactive fractionation, based on multi-drug resistance (MDR) pump inhibition in Staphylococcus aureus, resulted in the isolation of the active inhibitors 5′-methoxyhydnocarpin-D from leaves of Berberis (formerly Mahonia) trifoliolata and pheophorbide a from Berberis fendleri. The hydnocarpin derivative was not found in the latter species. Pheophytin a (the phytol derivative of pheophorbide a) was identified from both species, but it proved to have no MDR pump inhibitory activity. The somewhat uncommon, and inactive, flavonoid tricin was identified from B. trifoliolata. The occurrence of a flavonolignan in Mahonia-tpe species and its absence in Berberis sensu strictu may provide a chemical differentiation between the two groups which are now recombined on the basis of DNA studies. The strong bacterial efflux pump inhibition of pheophorbide a could be of importance as a plant defense against natural pathogens.     

Quantitative study of the drug efflux kinetics from sensitive and MDR human breast cancer cells

Cancer multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major impediment to effective chemotherapy in human cancer, in which P-glycoprotein and Multidrug Resistance-Associated protein figure prominently. Design and exploitation of novel clinical MDR inhibitors is greatly hindered by a lack of understanding of drug efflux dynamics in drug-sensitive and resistant cells. The aim of our study was to provide a microelectrode method for measuring the multidrug transporter mediated efflux of doxorubicin as well as a corresponding data analysis method for quantifying the efflux kinetic parameters. We performed experiments using carbon fiber microelectrode to detect doxorubicin efflux from a monolayer of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and derived MDR cells (MCF-7/ADR), established a material transport model and proposed a novel inverse method to quantitatively characterize the diffusion dynamics. The kinetic parameters of doxorubicin efflux from MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR cells in the presence or absence of MDR inhibitors were estimated. Our investigations showed the average initial doxorubicin efflux rate of MCF-7/ADR that was 5.2 times faster than of MCF-7. After treatment by tetramethylpyrazine or verapamil, the drug efflux rate of the MCF-7/ADR cells was reduced by about half that of those without inhibitors. The novel methodology presented suggests new and expanded applications for computer-aided reconstruction of the drug efflux process, microelectrode design, and high-throughput drug screening.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of bifendate-chalcone hybrids as a new class of potential P-glycoprotein inhibitors

Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is one of the major problems to successful cancer chemotherapy. To find novel effective P-gp inhibitors, a series of bifendate-chalcone hybrids were synthesized and evaluated. Among them, the most active compound 8g had little intrinsic cytotoxicity (IC(50)>200 μM), and could increase accumulation of Rhodamine 123 in K562/A02 cells more potently than bifendate and verapamil (VRP) by inhibiting P-gp efflux function. And 8g displayed potent chemo-sensitizing effect and persisted for much longer time (>24h) compared with VRP (<6h). In addition, 8g, unlike VRP, showed no stimulation on the P-gp ATPase activity, suggesting it is not a P-gp substrate. Therefore, 8g may represent a promising lead to develop MDR reversal agents for cancer chemotherapy.     

In silico screening for antibiotic escort molecules to overcome efflux

Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem worldwide and occurs in part due to the overexpression of efflux pumps responsible for the removal of antibiotics from bacterial cells. The current study examines complex formation between efflux pump substrates and escort molecules as a criterion for an in silico screening method for molecules that are able to potentiate antibiotic activities. Initially, the SUPERDRUG database was queried to select molecules that were similar to known multidrug resistance (MDR) modulators. Molecular interaction fields generated by GRID and the docking module GLUE were used to calculate the interaction energies between the selected molecules and the antibiotic norfloxacin. Ten compounds forming the most stable complexes with favourable changes to the norfloxacin molecular properties were tested for their potentiation ability by efflux pump modulation assays. Encouragingly, two molecules were proven to act as efflux pump modulators, and hence provide evidence that complex formation between a substrate and a drug can be used for in silico screening for novel escort molecules.     

Multidrug resistance reversal agent from Jatropha elliptica

As part of an ongoing project to identify plant natural products as resistance-modifying agents, bioassay-guided fractionation of an extract of Jatropha elliptica (Pohl) Muell Arg. led to the isolation of a penta-substituted pyridine, namely 2,6-dimethyl-4-phenyl-pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid diethyl ester (8). The structure was established by spectroscopic methods. This known compound was assayed for in vitro antibacterial and resistance-modifying activities against strains of Staphylococcus aureus possessing the MsrA and NorA resistance efflux mechanisms. Antibiotic efflux studies indicated that (8) acts as an inhibitor of the NorA efflux pump and restores the level of intracellular drug concentration.     

Bacterial efflux systems and efflux pumps inhibitors

It is now well established that bacterial resistance to antibiotics has become a serious problem of public health that concerns almost all antibacterial agents and that manifests in all fields of their application. Among the three main mechanisms involved in bacterial resistance (target modification, antibiotic inactivation or default of its accumulation within the cell), efflux pumps, responsible for the extrusion of the antibiotic outside the cell, have recently received a particular attention. Actually, these systems, classified into five families, can confer resistance to a specific class of antibiotics or to a large number of drugs, thus conferring a multi-drug resistance (MDR) phenotype to bacteria. To face this issue, it is urgent to find new molecules active against resistant bacteria. Among the strategies employed, the search for inhibitors of resistance mechanisms seems to be attractive because such molecules could restore antibiotic activity. In the case of efflux systems, efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) are expected to block the pumps and such EPIs, if active against MDR pumps, would be of great interest. This review will focus on the families of bacterial efflux systems conferring drug resistance, and on the EPIs that have been identified to restore antibiotic activity.     

Antibacterial and resistance modifying activity of Rosmarinus officinalis

As part of a project to characterise plant-derived natural products that modulate bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR), bioassay-guided fractionation of a chloroform extract of the aerial parts of Rosmarinus officinalis led to the characterisation of the known abietane diterpenes carnosic acid (1), carnosol (2) and 12-methoxy-trans-carnosic acid. Additionally, a new diterpene, the cis A/B ring junction isomer of 12-methoxy-trans-carnosic acid, 12-methoxy-cis-carnosic acid (5), was isolated. The major components were assessed for their antibacterial activities against strains of Staphylococcus aureus possessing efflux mechanisms of resistance. Minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 16 to 64 microg/ml. Incorporation of 1 and 2 into the growth medium at 10 microg/ml caused a 32- and 16-fold potentiation of the activity of erythromycin against an erythromycin effluxing strain, respectively. Compound 1 was evaluated against a strain of S. aureus possessing the NorA multidrug efflux pump and was shown to inhibit ethidium bromide efflux with an IC50 of 50 microM, but this activity is likely to be related to the inhibition of a pump(s) other than NorA. The antibacterial and efflux inhibitory activities of these natural products make them interesting potential targets for synthesis.     

Inhibition of multidrug resistance by adamantylgb3, a globotriaosylceramide analog

Multidrug resistance (MDR) via the ABC drug transporter (ABCB1), P-glycoprotein (P-gp/MDR1) overexpression, is a major obstacle in cancer chemotherapy. Many inhibitors reverse MDR but, like cyclosporin A (CsA), have significant toxicities. MDR1 is also a translocase that flips glucosylceramide inside the Golgi to enhance neutral glycosphingolipid (GSL) synthesis. We observed partial MDR1/globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) cell surface co-localization, and GSL removal depleted cell surface MDR1. MDR1 may therefore interact with GSLs. AdamantylGb3, a water-soluble Gb3 mimic, but not other GSL analogs, reversed MDR1-MDCK cell drug resistance. Cell surface MDR1 was up-regulated 1 h after treatment with CsA or adaGb3, but at 72 h, cell surface expression was lost. Intracellular MDR1 accumulated throughout, suggesting long term defects in plasma membrane MDR1 trafficking. AdaGb3 or CsA rapidly reduced rhodamine 123 cellular efflux. MDR1 also mediates gastrointestinal epithelial drug efflux, restricting oral bioavailability. Vinblastine apical-to-basal transport in polarized human intestinal C2BBe1 cells was significantly increased when adaGb3 was added to both sides, or to the apical side only, comparable with verapamil, a standard MDR1 inhibitor. Disulfide cross-linking of mutant MDR1s showed no binding of adaGb3 to the MDR1 verapamil/cyclosporin-binding site between surface proximal helices of transmembrane segments (TM) 6 and TM7, but rather to an adjacent site nearer the center of TM6 and the TM7 extracellular face, i.e. close to the bilayer leaflet interface. Verotoxin-mediated Gb3 endocytosis also up-regulated total MDR1 and inhibited drug efflux. Thus, a functional interplay between membrane Gb3 and MDR1 provides a more physiologically based approach to MDR1 regulation to increase the bioavailability of chemotherapeutic drugs.     

Piperine analogs as potent Staphylococcus aureus NorA efflux pump inhibitors

Based on our recent findings that piperine is a potent Staphylococcus aureus NorA efflux pump inhibitor (EPI), 38 piperine analogs were synthesized and bioevaluated for their EPI activity. Twenty-five of them were found active with potentiating activity equivalent or more than known EPIs like reserpine, carsonic acid and verapamil. The inhibitory mechanism of the compounds was confirmed by efflux inhibition assay using ethidium bromide as NorA substrate. The present communication describes the synthesis, bioevaluation and structure related activity of these efflux pump inhibitors.     

Tanshinone-1 induces tumor cell killing,enhanced by inhibition of secondary activation of signaling networks

Tumor multidrug resistance (MDR) can result from overexpression of drug transporters and deregulation of cellular signaling transduction. New agents and strategies are required for overcoming MDR. Here, we report that tanshinone-1, a bioactive ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, directly killed MDR tumor cells and their corresponding parental cells, which was potentiated by inhibition of secondary activation of signaling networks. Tanshinone-1 was slightly more potent at inducing cytotoxicity and apoptosis in MDR cells than in corresponding parental cells. Tanshinone-1-induced MDR cell killing was independent of the function and expression of drug transporters but was partially correlated with the phosphatase-dependent reduction of phospho-705-Stat3, which secondarily activated p38-, AKT-, and ERK-involved signaling networks. Cotreatments with p38, AKT, and ERK inhibitors potentiated the anti-MDR effects of tanshinone-1. Our study presents a model for MDR cell killing using a compound of natural origin. This model could lead to new therapeutic strategies for targeting signaling network(s) in MDR cancers as well as new strategies for multitarget design.     

PSC833, cyclosporin A, and dexniguldipine effects on cellular calcein retention and inhibition of the multidrug resistance pump in human leukemic lymphoblasts

A convenient functional assay of the multidrug resistance (MDR) pump is useful for the diagnosis of MDR-1 cancers and the quantitative determination of the potency of inhibitors of the pump. Calcein-AM, a substrate of the MDR pump, was used to determine the concentration of SDZ PSC833 needed to completely inhibit the pump in CEM/VLB100 drug-resistant cells. The initial rates (in percent) for calcein retention by these MDR-1 cells were used to calculate values for the percent initial efflux of calcein-AM through the MDR pump in the presence of the inhibitors PSC833, cyclosporinA, and dexniguldipine. The percent efflux values at 250 and 60 nM calcein-AM were used to calculate the required concentration of each inhibitor to produce half-inhibition (I50) of initial efflux through the pump. These results are consistent with a noncompetitive inhibition of the MDR pump by each of the three inhibitors.     

The ABC transporter gene family of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caenorhabditis elegans</Emphasis> has implications for the evolutionary dynamics of multidrug resistance in eukaryotes

Background  

Many drugs of natural origin are hydrophobic and can pass through cell membranes. Hydrophobic molecules must be susceptible to active efflux systems if they are to be maintained at lower concentrations in cells than in their environment. Multi-drug resistance (MDR), often mediated by intrinsic membrane proteins that couple energy to drug efflux, provides this function. All eukaryotic genomes encode several gene families capable of encoding MDR functions, among which the ABC transporters are the largest. The number of candidate MDR genes means that study of the drug-resistance properties of an organism cannot be effectively carried out without taking a genomic perspective.