Antibiotic that inhibits -translation blocks binding of EF-Tu to tmRNA but not to tRNA.

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Source:

mBio, p.e0146123 (2023)

Abstract:

<p>Translation is conserved throughout bacteria and is essential in many species. High-throughput screening identified a tetrazole-based -translation inhibitor, KKL-55, that has broad-spectrum antibiotic activity. A biotinylated version of KKL-55 pulled down elongation factor thermo-unstable (EF-Tu) from bacterial lysates. Purified EF-Tu bound KKL-55 with a = 2 &micro;M, confirming a high-affinity interaction. An X-ray crystal structure showed that KKL-55 binds in domain 3 of EF-Tu, and mutation of residues in the binding pocket abolished KKL-55 binding. RNA-binding assays showed that KKL-55 inhibits binding between EF-Tu and transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA) but not between EF-Tu and tRNA. These data demonstrate a new mechanism for the inhibition of EF-Tu function and suggest that this specific inhibition of EF-Tu&bull;tmRNA binding is a viable target for antibiotic development. IMPORTANCE Elongation factor thermo-unstable (EF-Tu) is a universally conserved translation factor that mediates productive interactions between tRNAs and the ribosome. In bacteria, EF-Tu also delivers transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA)-SmpB to the ribosome during -translation. We report the first small molecule, KKL-55, that specifically inhibits EF-Tu activity in -translation without affecting its activity in normal translation. KKL-55 has broad-spectrum antibiotic activity, suggesting that compounds targeted to the tmRNA-binding interface of EF-Tu could be developed into new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections.</p>

PDB: 
8FR3
Detector: 
EIGER
Beamline: 
24-ID-E