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search.filters.applied.f.access: openAccess × Author: Koch, Marcus × End date: 2024 × Start date: 2020 × DDC: 500 × WGL Institute: INM ×

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    A New PqsR Inverse Agonist Potentiates Tobramycin Efficacy to Eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms
    (2021) Schütz, Christian; Ho, Duy-Khiet; Hamed, Mostafa Mohamed; Abdelsamie, Ahmed Saad; Röhrig, Teresa; Herr, Christian; Kany, Andreas Martin; Rox, Katharina; Schmelz, Stefan; Siebenbürger, Lorenz; Wirth, Marius; Börger, Carsten; Yahiaoui, Samir; Bals, Robert; Scrima, Andrea; Blankenfeldt, Wulf; Horstmann, Justus Constantin; Christmann, Rebekka; Murgia, Xabier; Koch, Marcus; Berwanger, Aylin; Loretz, Brigitta; Hirsch, Anna Katharina Herta; Hartmann, Rolf Wolfgang; Lehr, Claus-Michael; Empting, Martin
    Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections can be notoriously difficult to treat and are often accompanied by the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSI) acting on PqsR (MvfR) – a crucial transcriptional regulator serving major functions in PA virulence – can enhance antibiotic efficacy and eventually prevent the AMR. An integrated drug discovery campaign including design, medicinal chemistry-driven hit-to-lead optimization and in-depth biological profiling of a new QSI generation is reported. The QSI possess excellent activity in inhibiting pyocyanin production and PqsR reporter-gene with IC50 values as low as 200 and 11 × 10−9 m, respectively. Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) as well as safety pharmacology studies especially highlight the promising translational properties of the lead QSI for pulmonary applications. Moreover, target engagement of the lead QSI is shown in a PA mucoid lung infection mouse model. Beyond that, a significant synergistic effect of a QSI-tobramycin (Tob) combination against PA biofilms using a tailor-made squalene-derived nanoparticle (NP) formulation, which enhance the minimum biofilm eradicating concentration (MBEC) of Tob more than 32-fold is demonstrated. The novel lead QSI and the accompanying NP formulation highlight the potential of adjunctive pathoblocker-mediated therapy against PA infections opening up avenues for preclinical development.
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    Scanning electron microscopy preparation of the cellular actin cortex: A quantitative comparison between critical point drying and hexamethyldisilazane drying
    (San Francisco, California, US : PLOS, 2021) Schu, Moritz; Terriac, Emmanuel; Koch, Marcus; Paschke, Stephan; Lautenschläger, Franziska; Flormann, Daniel A.D.
    The cellular cortex is an approximately 200-nm-thick actin network that lies just beneath the cell membrane. It is responsible for the mechanical properties of cells, and as such, it is involved in many cellular processes, including cell migration and cellular interactions with the environment. To develop a clear view of this dense structure, high-resolution imaging is essential. As one such technique, electron microscopy, involves complex sample preparation procedures. The final drying of these samples has significant influence on potential artifacts, like cell shrinkage and the formation of artifactual holes in the actin cortex. In this study, we compared the three most used final sample drying procedures: critical-point drying (CPD), CPD with lens tissue (CPD-LT), and hexamethyldisilazane drying. We show that both hexamethyldisilazane and CPD-LT lead to fewer artifactual mesh holes within the actin cortex than CPD. Moreover, CPD-LT leads to significant reduction in cell height compared to hexamethyldisilazane and CPD. We conclude that the final drying procedure should be chosen according to the reduction in cell height, and so CPD-LT, or according to the spatial separation of the single layers of the actin cortex, and so hexamethyldisilazane.