Development of Quinazolinone Derivatives as Modulators of Virulence Factors of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Cystic Fibrosis Strains

oleh: Gabriele Carullo, Giovanni Di Bonaventura, Sara Rossi, Veronica Lupetti, Valeria Tudino, Simone Brogi, Stefania Butini, Giuseppe Campiani, Sandra Gemma, Arianna Pompilio

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-09-01

Deskripsi

<i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (PA), one of the ESKAPE pathogens, is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium responsible for nosocomial infections in humans but also for infections in patients affected by AIDS, cancer, or cystic fibrosis (CF). Treatment of PA infections in CF patients is a global healthcare problem due to the ability of PA to gain antibiotic tolerance through biofilm formation. Anti-virulence compounds represent a promising approach as adjuvant therapy, which could reduce or eliminate the pathogenicity of PA without impacting its growth. Pyocyanin is one of the virulence factors whose production is modulated by the <i>Pseudomonas</i> quinolone signal (PQS) through its receptor PqsR. Different PqsR modulators have been synthesized over the years, highlighting this new powerful therapeutic strategy. Based on the promising structure of quinazolin-4(3<i>H</i>)-one, we developed compounds <b>7a</b>–<b>d</b>, <b>8a</b>,<b>b</b>, <b>9</b>, <b>10</b>, and <b>11a</b>–<b>f</b> able to reduce biofilm formation and the production of virulence factors (pyocyanin and pyoverdine) at 50 µM in two PA strains responsible for CF acute and chronic infections. The developed compounds did not reduce the cell viability of IB3-1 bronchial CF cells, and computational studies confirmed the potential ability of novel compounds to act as potential Pqs system modulators.