Crystal structure of the anthrax drug target, Bacillus anthracis dihydrofolate reductase

J Med Chem. 2007 Sep 6;50(18):4374-81. doi: 10.1021/jm070319v. Epub 2007 Aug 14.

Abstract

Spores of Bacillus anthracis are the infectious agent of anthrax. Current antibiotic treatments are limited due to resistance and patient age restrictions; thus, additional targets for therapeutic intervention are needed. One possible candidate is dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a biosynthetic enzyme necessary for anthrax pathogenicity. We determined the crystal structure of DHFR from B. anthracis (baDHFR) in complex with methotrexate (MTX; 1) at 2.4 Angstrom resolution. The structure reveals the crucial interactions required for MTX binding and a putative molecular basis for how baDHFR has natural resistance to trimethoprim (TMP; 2). The structure also allows insights for designing selective baDHFR inhibitors that will have weak affinities for the human enzyme. Additionally, we have found that 5-nitro-6-methylamino-isocytosine (MANIC; 3), which inhibits another B. anthracis folate synthesis enzyme, dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS), can also inhibit baDHFR. This provides a starting point for designing multi-target inhibitors that are less likely to induce drug resistance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Bacillus anthracis / enzymology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Binding Sites
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Cytosine / analogs & derivatives
  • Cytosine / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Methotrexate / chemistry
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Conformation
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase / chemistry*
  • Trimethoprim Resistance

Substances

  • 5-nitro-6-methylaminoisocytosine
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Cytosine
  • Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase
  • Methotrexate