nystatin-a1 and mycosamine

Several polyene macrolides are potent antifungal agents that have severe side effects. Increased glycosylation of these compounds can improve water solubility and reduce toxicity. Three extending glycosyltransferases are known to add hexoses to the mycosaminyl sugar residues of polyenes. The Actinoplanes caeruleus PegA enzyme catalyses attachment of a D-mannosyl residue in a β-1,4 linkage to the mycosamine of the aromatic heptaene 67-121A to form 67-121C. NppY from Pseudonocardia autotrophica adds an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine to the mycosamine of 10-deoxynystatin. NypY from Pseudonocardia sp. P1 adds an extra hexose to a nystatin, but the identity of the sugar is unknown. Here, we express the nypY gene in Streptomyces nodosus amphL and show that NypY modifies 8-deoxyamphotericins more efficiently than C-8 hydroxylated forms. The modified heptaene was purified and shown to be mannosyl-8-deoxyamphotericin B. This had the same antifungal activity as amphotericin B but was slightly less haemolytic. Chemical modification of this new disaccharide polyene could give better antifungal antibiotics.

Topics: Acetylglucosamine; Actinobacteria; Amphotericin B; Antifungal Agents; Candida albicans; Glycosyltransferases; Hexosamines; Leishmania; Leishmaniasis; Macrolides; Mycoses; Nystatin; Streptomyces

The polyene macrolide antibiotic nystatin produced by Streptomyces noursei contains a deoxyaminosugar mycosamine moiety attached to the C-19 carbon of the macrolactone ring through the beta-glycosidic bond. The nystatin biosynthetic gene cluster contains three genes, nysDI, nysDII, and nysDIII, encoding enzymes with presumed roles in mycosamine biosynthesis and attachment as glycosyltransferase, aminotransferase, and GDP-mannose dehydratase, respectively. In the present study, the functions of these three genes were analyzed. The recombinant NysDIII protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified, and its in vitro GDP-mannose dehydratase activity was demonstrated. The nysDI and nysDII genes were inactivated individually in S. noursei, and analyses of the resulting mutants showed that both genes produced nystatinolide and 10-deoxynystatinolide as major products. Expression of the nysDI and nysDII genes in trans in the respective mutants partially restored nystatin biosynthesis in both cases, supporting the predicted roles of these two genes in mycosamine biosynthesis and attachment. Both antifungal and hemolytic activities of the purified nystatinolides were shown to be strongly reduced compared to those of nystatin, confirming the importance of the mycosamine moiety for the biological activity of nystatin.

Topics: Animals; Blotting, Western; Carbohydrate Dehydrogenases; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Liquid; Genetic Vectors; Glycosyltransferases; Hemolysis; Hexosamines; Horses; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Structure; Multigene Family; Nystatin; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Recombinant Proteins; Streptomyces; Transaminases

[reaction: see text] New derivatives of Amphotericin B (AmB) were synthesized through a double reductive alkylation of the mycosamine. These derivatives of AmB displayed superior antifungal activity against Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild-type strain and especially in the case of an AmB-resistant Candida albicans strain. Moreover, these compounds are potential drug candidates because of significantly reduced hemotoxicity compared to AmB. Furthermore, the same mycosamine modification can be applied to other polyene macrolides such as Nystatin and Pimaricin to improve their antifungal activity.

Topics: Alkylation; Amphotericin B; Antifungal Agents; Candida albicans; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Hexosamines; Macrolides; Molecular Structure; Natamycin; Nystatin; Polyenes; Saccharomyces cerevisiae