Dipeptidic Phosphonates: Potent Inhibitors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Elastase B Showing Efficacy in a Murine Keratitis Model

24 September 2024, Version 1

Abstract

The ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is responsible for severe infections and notoriously known for acquiring antimicrobial resistance. Inhibiting the bacterium’s extracellular elastase, LasB – a zinc-dependent protease – presents a promising strategy to mitigate its virulence. Within this medicinal chemistry–driven hit-to-lead optimization campaign, a new series of highly potent dipeptidic phosphonates is designed and synthesized following a structure–based drug discovery approach. In vitro and in vivo evaluation reveal beneficial pharmacokinetic profiles, excellent selectivity over human off-targets and good tolerability in murine toxicity studies. Ultimately, the scaffold presented herein demonstrates promising in vivo efficacy in a murine Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis model in combination with the antibiotic meropenem.

Keywords

Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Elastase B
Keratitis
Phosphonates

Supplementary materials

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Supporting Information
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Chemistry, X-ray crystallography, biological evaluation
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