Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.

The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a disease with high worldwide mortality rates. Current treatment programs are under significant threat from multi-drug and extensively-drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, and it is essential t...

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Main Authors: Sudagar S Gurcha, Veeraraghavan Usha, Jonathan A G Cox, Klaus Fütterer, Katherine A Abrahams, Apoorva Bhatt, Luke J Alderwick, Robert C Reynolds, Nicholas J Loman, VijayaShankar Nataraj, Carlos Alemparte, David Barros, Adrian J Lloyd, Lluis Ballell, Judith V Hobrath, Gurdyal S Besra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113568
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author Sudagar S Gurcha
Veeraraghavan Usha
Jonathan A G Cox
Klaus Fütterer
Katherine A Abrahams
Apoorva Bhatt
Luke J Alderwick
Robert C Reynolds
Nicholas J Loman
VijayaShankar Nataraj
Carlos Alemparte
David Barros
Adrian J Lloyd
Lluis Ballell
Judith V Hobrath
Gurdyal S Besra
author_facet Sudagar S Gurcha
Veeraraghavan Usha
Jonathan A G Cox
Klaus Fütterer
Katherine A Abrahams
Apoorva Bhatt
Luke J Alderwick
Robert C Reynolds
Nicholas J Loman
VijayaShankar Nataraj
Carlos Alemparte
David Barros
Adrian J Lloyd
Lluis Ballell
Judith V Hobrath
Gurdyal S Besra
author_sort Sudagar S Gurcha
collection DOAJ
description The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a disease with high worldwide mortality rates. Current treatment programs are under significant threat from multi-drug and extensively-drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, and it is essential to identify new inhibitors and their targets. We generated spontaneous resistant mutants in Mycobacterium bovis BCG in the presence of 10× the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compound 1, a previously identified potent inhibitor of mycobacterial growth in culture. Whole genome sequencing of two resistant mutants revealed in one case a single nucleotide polymorphism in the gene aspS at (535)GAC>(535)AAC (D179N), while in the second mutant a single nucleotide polymorphism was identified upstream of the aspS promoter region. We probed whole cell target engagement by overexpressing either M. bovis BCG aspS or Mycobacterium smegmatis aspS, which resulted in a ten-fold and greater than ten-fold increase, respectively, of the MIC against compound 1. To analyse the impact of inhibitor 1 on M. tuberculosis AspS (Mt-AspS) activity we over-expressed, purified and characterised the kinetics of this enzyme using a robust tRNA-independent assay adapted to a high-throughput screening format. Finally, to aid hit-to-lead optimization, the crystal structure of apo M. smegmatis AspS was determined to a resolution of 2.4 Å.
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spelling doaj-art-d85fbdf303054892bbf5d1a8ee379a422025-08-20T03:46:11ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-01911e11356810.1371/journal.pone.0113568Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.Sudagar S GurchaVeeraraghavan UshaJonathan A G CoxKlaus FüttererKatherine A AbrahamsApoorva BhattLuke J AlderwickRobert C ReynoldsNicholas J LomanVijayaShankar NatarajCarlos AlemparteDavid BarrosAdrian J LloydLluis BallellJudith V HobrathGurdyal S BesraThe human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a disease with high worldwide mortality rates. Current treatment programs are under significant threat from multi-drug and extensively-drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, and it is essential to identify new inhibitors and their targets. We generated spontaneous resistant mutants in Mycobacterium bovis BCG in the presence of 10× the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compound 1, a previously identified potent inhibitor of mycobacterial growth in culture. Whole genome sequencing of two resistant mutants revealed in one case a single nucleotide polymorphism in the gene aspS at (535)GAC>(535)AAC (D179N), while in the second mutant a single nucleotide polymorphism was identified upstream of the aspS promoter region. We probed whole cell target engagement by overexpressing either M. bovis BCG aspS or Mycobacterium smegmatis aspS, which resulted in a ten-fold and greater than ten-fold increase, respectively, of the MIC against compound 1. To analyse the impact of inhibitor 1 on M. tuberculosis AspS (Mt-AspS) activity we over-expressed, purified and characterised the kinetics of this enzyme using a robust tRNA-independent assay adapted to a high-throughput screening format. Finally, to aid hit-to-lead optimization, the crystal structure of apo M. smegmatis AspS was determined to a resolution of 2.4 Å.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113568
spellingShingle Sudagar S Gurcha
Veeraraghavan Usha
Jonathan A G Cox
Klaus Fütterer
Katherine A Abrahams
Apoorva Bhatt
Luke J Alderwick
Robert C Reynolds
Nicholas J Loman
VijayaShankar Nataraj
Carlos Alemparte
David Barros
Adrian J Lloyd
Lluis Ballell
Judith V Hobrath
Gurdyal S Besra
Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
PLoS ONE
title Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
title_full Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
title_fullStr Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
title_full_unstemmed Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
title_short Biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase AspS, a promising TB drug target.
title_sort biochemical and structural characterization of mycobacterial aspartyl trna synthetase asps a promising tb drug target
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113568
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