Dual Acting Immuno-Antibiotics: Computational Investigation on Antibacterial Efficacy of Immune Boosters Against Isoprenoid H Enzyme

Abstract

Drug-resistant infections have become a serious threat to human health in the past two decades. Global Antimicrobial Surveillance (GLASS) in January 2018 reported widespread antibiotic resistance among 1.5 million people infected with bacteria across 22 countries. According to prominent economist Jim O'Neil, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to kill ∼10 million people affected by microorganisms each year by 2050. Even though multiple therapeutics are now available to treat the infections, more and more bacterial strains have acquired resistance to these treatments through various techniques. Moreover, the decrease in the pipeline of antibacterial medicines under clinical development has become a significant problem. In this scenario, the development of novel antibiotics that act on untapped pathways is necessary to combat the bacterial infections. Isoprenoid H (IspH) synthetase has become an attractive antibacterial target as there is no human homologue. IspH is an enzyme involved in methyl-d-erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway of isoprenoid synthesis and is conserved in gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, and apicomplexans. Since, IspH is a novel therapeutic target, explorations are only just beginning, and despite the progress made in this area, no single IspH inhibitor is available in the market for therapeutic use. In this article, we have repurposed 35 immune boosters against IspH enzyme using methods such as extra-precision docking and Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MMGBSA). Among them, 4′-fluorouridine was found to be active because of its glide score and significant binding affinity with IspH enzyme. Furthermore, this study requires more in vitro, in vivo, and molecular dynamics studies to support our findings.