Srinivas Reddy Dubbaka

Dissociation of antibacterial activity and aminoglycoside ototoxicity in the 4-monosubstituted 2-deoxystreptamine apramycin.

Aminoglycosides are potent antibacterials, but therapy is compromised by substantial toxicity causing, in particular, irreversible hearing loss. Aminoglycoside ototoxicity occurs both in a sporadic dose-dependent and in a genetically predisposed fashion. We recently have developed a mechanistic concept that postulates a key role for the mitochondrial ribosome (mitoribosome) in aminoglycoside ototoxicity. We now report on the surprising finding that apramycin, a structurally unique aminoglycoside licensed for veterinary use, shows little activity toward eukaryotic ribosomes, including hybrid ribosomes which were genetically engineered to carry the mitoribosomal aminoglycoside-susceptibility A1555G allele. In ex vivo cultures of cochlear explants and in the in vivo guinea pig model of chronic ototoxicity, apramycin causes only little hair cell damage and hearing loss but it is a potent antibacterial with good activity against a range of clinical pathogens, including multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These data provide proof of concept that antibacterial activity can be dissected from aminoglycoside ototoxicity. Together with 3D structures of apramycin-ribosome complexes at 3.5-Å resolution, our results provide a conceptual framework for further development of less toxic aminoglycosides by hypothesis-driven chemical synthesis.

4′-O-substitutions determine selectivity of aminoglycoside antibiotics

Clinical use of 2-deoxystreptamine aminoglycoside antibiotics, which target the bacterial ribosome, is compromised by adverse effects related to limited drug selectivity. Here we present a series of 4′,6′-O-acetal and 4′-O-ether modifications on glucopyranosyl ring I of aminoglycosides. Chemical modifications were guided by measuring interactions between the compounds synthesized and ribosomes harbouring single point mutations in the drug-binding site, resulting in aminoglycosides that interact poorly with the drug-binding pocket of eukaryotic mitochondrial or cytosolic ribosomes. Yet, these compounds largely retain their inhibitory activity for bacterial ribosomes and show antibacterial activity. Our data indicate that 4′-O-substituted aminoglycosides possess increased selectivity towards bacterial ribosomes and little activity for any of the human drug-binding pockets.

Copper-mediated trifluoromethylation of aryl-, heteroaryl-, and vinyltrifluoroborates with Langlois' reagent

An effortless and realistic procedure for the copper-mediated trifluoromethylation of aryl-, heteroaryl- and vinyltrifluoroborates with CF3 radicals generated from NaSO2CF3 and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) is presented. The developed method produces trifluoromethyl arenes and -alkenes in good to excellent yields and a wide range of electronically and structurally diverse substrates are tolerated.

Amide Formation in One Pot from Carboxylic Acids and Amines via Carboxyl and Sulfinyl Mixed Anhydrides

An efficient method has been developed for the preparation of yet unknown acyclic mixed anhydrides of carboxylic and sulfinic acids. Sterically hindered 2-methylbut-3-ene-2-sulfinyl carboxylates add primary and secondary amines preferentially onto the carbonyl moieties realizing a new method for the one-pot preparation of carboxamides. It uses 1:1 mixtures of carboxylic acids and amines without a base, requires no excess of reagents, and liberates only volatile coproducts. Protected di- and tripeptides have been prepared in solution without epimerization by application of this method.

Decoding and deafness: Two sides of a coin

Antibiotics used in clinical medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases frequently target bacterial protein synthesis, as illustrated by macrolides, ketolides, lincosamides, oxazolidinones, aminoglycosides, and tetracyclines (Gale et al., 1981). In general, antibiotics target the ribosome at sites of functional relevance, e. g. the sites of decoding, translocation, and peptidyl transfer. The emergence of antibiotic resistance and the toxicity associated with some of the available agents ask for a further exploitation of the ribosome as a drug target.