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Publication Abstract from PubMed

There is an urgent need for new antibacterials that pinpoint novel targets and thereby avoid existing resistance mechanisms. We have created novel synthetic antibacterials through structure-based drug design that specifically target bacterial thymidylate kinase (TMK), a nucleotide kinase essential in the DNA synthesis pathway. A high-resolution structure shows compound TK-666 binding partly in the thymidine monophosphate substrate site, but also forming new induced-fit interactions that give picomolar affinity. TK-666 has potent, broad-spectrum Gram-positive microbiological activity (including activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus), bactericidal action with rapid killing kinetics, excellent target selectivity over the human ortholog, and low resistance rates. We demonstrate in vivo efficacy against S. aureus in a murine infected-thigh model. This work presents the first validation of TMK as a compelling antibacterial target and provides a rationale for pursuing novel clinical candidates for treating Gram-positive infections through TMK.

In Vivo Validation of Thymidylate Kinase (TMK) with a Rationally Designed, Selective Antibacterial Compound.,Keating TA, Newman JV, Olivier NB, Otterson LG, Andrews B, Boriack-Sjodin PA, Breen JN, Doig P, Dumas J, Gangl E, Green OM, Guler SY, Hentemann MF, Joseph-McCarthy D, Kawatkar S, Kutschke A, Loch JT, McKenzie AR, Pradeepan S, Prasad S, Martinez-Botella G ACS Chem Biol. 2012 Aug 28. PMID:22908966^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.