Deping Wang

Crystal Structure of the Oxazolidinone Antibiotic Linezolid Bound to the 50S Ribosomal Subunit

The oxazolidinone antibacterials target the 50S subunit of prokaryotic ribosomes. To gain insight into their mechanism of action, the crystal structure of the canonical oxazolidinone, linezolid, has been determined bound to the Haloarcula marismortui 50S subunit. Linezolid binds the 50S A-site, near the catalytic center, which suggests that inhibition involves competition with incoming A-site substrates. These results provide a structural basis for the discovery of improved oxazolidinones active against emerging drug-resistant clinical strains.

Design at the atomic level: design of biaryloxazolidinones as potent orally active antibiotics.

We have developed a first generation of hybrid sparsomycin-linezolid compounds into a new family of orally bioavailable biaryloxazolidinones that have activity against both linezolid-susceptible and -resistant gram-positive bacteria as well as the fastidious gram-negative bacteria Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrahalis. The convergent synthesis of these new compounds is detailed.

Design at the atomic level : Generation of novel hybrid biaryloxazolidinones as promising new antibiotics

From the X-ray crystal structures of linezolid and the non-selective antibiotic sparsomycin, we have derived a new family of hybrid oxazolidinones. From this initial compound set we have developed a new biaryloxazolidinone scaffold that shows both potent antimicrobial activity as well as selective inhibition of ribosomal translation. The synthesis of these compounds is outlined.