Theoretical and structural analysis of the active site of the transcriptional regulators LasR and TraR, using molecular docking methodology for identifying potential analogues of acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) with anti-quorum sensing activity

Eur J Med Chem. 2010 Feb;45(2):608-15. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2009.11.004. Epub 2009 Nov 6.

Abstract

In the present study the homology of transcriptional receptors LuxR type were evaluated using as point of reference the receptors TraR and LasR of the bacterial types Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Pseudomonas aureginosa respectively. A series of alignments were performed in order to demonstrate that the active site of the protein is conserved in wide range of gram negative bacteria. Moreover, some docking calculations were carried out for analogs of the acyl homoserin lactones (AHLs) and regulatory proteins LasR and TraR, to understand the complex microenvironment in which the ligands are exposed. The molecular alignments show clearly that there are preserved motifs in the residues (Y53, Y61, W57, D70, W85 to TraR, Y56, Y64, W60, D73, W88 to LasR) analyzed, which may serve as site-specific targets for the development of potential antagonists. In this study was found that the anti-quorum sensing activity of the AHLs molecular analogs appears to depend on; the structure of the lactone ring and on appropriate combination of absolute and relative stereochemistry of the carbonyl (C=O) and amide (NH(2)) groups of the side chain of these AHLs molecular analogs, in combination with the interactions with the conserved amino acids (D73, W60, Y56, S129 to LasR and D70, W57, Y53 to TraR) of the LuxR type protein family.

MeSH terms

  • Acyl-Butyrolactones / chemistry*
  • Acyl-Butyrolactones / metabolism
  • Acyl-Butyrolactones / pharmacology*
  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / cytology
  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / drug effects
  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / metabolism
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Catalytic Domain*
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / cytology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism
  • Quorum Sensing / drug effects*
  • Trans-Activators / chemistry*
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism

Substances

  • Acyl-Butyrolactones
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • LasR protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • TraR protein, Agrobacterium tumefaciens
  • Trans-Activators