Lovastatin lactone may improve irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) by inhibiting enzymes in the archaeal methanogenesis pathway [version 3; referees: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Methane produced by the methanoarchaeon Methanobrevibacter smithii (M. smithii) has been linked to constipation, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C), and obesity. Lovastatin, which demonstrates a cholesterol-lowering effect by the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase, may also have an anti-methanogenesis effect through direct inhibition of enzymes in the archaeal methanogenesis pathway. We conducted protein-ligand docking experiments to evaluate this possibility. Results are consistent with recent clinical findings. METHODS: F420-dependent methylenetetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase (mtd), a key methanogenesis enzyme was modeled for two different methanogenic archaea: M. smithii and Methanopyrus kandleri. Once protein models were developed, ligand-binding sites were identified. Multiple ligands and their respective protonation, isomeric and tautomeric representations were docked into each site, including F420-coenzyme (natural ligand), lactone and β-hydroxyacid forms of lovastatin and simvastatin, and other co-complexed ligands found in related crystal structures. RESULTS: 1) Generally, for each modeled site the lactone form of the statins had more favorable site interactions compared to F420; 2) The statin lactone forms generally had the most favorable docking scores, even relative to the native template PDB ligands; and 3) The statin β-hydroxyacid forms had less favorable docking scores, typically scoring in the middle with some of the F420 tautomeric forms. Consistent with these computational results were those from a recent phase II clinical trial (NCT02495623) with a proprietary, modified-release lovastatin-lactone (SYN-010) in patients with IBS-C, which showed a reduction in symptoms and breath methane levels, compared to placebo. CONCLUSION: The lactone form of lovastatin exhibits preferential binding over the native-F420 coenzyme ligand in silico and thus could inhibit the activity of the key M. smithii methanogenesis enzyme mtd in vivo. Statin lactones may thus exert a methane-reducing effect that is distinct from cholesterol lowering activity, which requires HMGR inhibition by statin β-hydroxyacid forms

Comparison of Four Methods for Determining Lysostaphin Susceptibility of Various Strains of Staphylococcus aureus

Lysostaphin is an endopeptidase that cleaves the pentaglycine cross-bridges of the staphylococcal cell wall rapidly lysing the bacteria. Recently, lysostaphin has been examined for its potential to treat infections and to clear Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization, requiring a reliable method for determining the lysostaphin susceptibility of strains of S. aureus. We compared four methods for determining the lysostaphin susceptibility of 57 strains of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, vancomycin intermediately susceptible S. aureus (VISA), mupirocin-resistant S. aureus, and various defined genetic mutants of S. aureus. Three reference lysostaphin-resistant S. aureus variants were also included in the assays as negative controls. The assays examined included turbidity, MIC, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and disk diffusion assays. All of the strains of S. aureus tested, including a VISA strain which had previously been reported to be lysostaphin resistant, were susceptible to lysostaphin by all four methods. The three reference lysostaphin-resistant variants were resistant by all four methods. The disk diffusion assay was the simplest method to differentiate lysostaphin-susceptible S. aureus strains from lysostaphin-resistant variants, while the MBC assay could be used as a follow-up assay if required. In the disk diffusion assay, all strains of S. aureus tested revealed zones of inhibition of ≥11 mm using a 50-μg lysostaphin disk, while the three reference lysostaphin-resistant S. aureus variants had no zones of inhibition. In MBC assays, concentrations of lysostaphin ranging from 0.16 μg/ml to 2.5 μg/ml were found to cause a 3 log or greater drop from the initial CFU of S. aureus within 30 min for all strains tested

Lysostaphin-Resistant Variants of Staphylococcus aureus Demonstrate Reduced Fitness In Vitro and In Vivo

Lysostaphin is under development as a therapy for serious staphylococcal infections. During preclinical development, lysostaphin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus variants have occasionally been reported in vitro and in vivo. The acquisition of resistance to this drug, however, leads to a significant increase in β-lactam antibiotic susceptibility, rendering methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains functionally methicillin susceptible. In this study, we have demonstrated that the development of lysostaphin resistance by two strains of MRSA also led to a loss of fitness in the variants. Consistent with the mutations found in previously reported lysostaphin-resistant S. aureus variants, these two variants had mutations in their femA genes, resulting in nonfunctional FemA proteins and, thus, monoglycine cross bridges in the peptidoglycan. The diminished fitness of the lysostaphin-resistant variants was reflected by (i) a reduced logarithmic growth rate, with the variants being outcompeted in cocultures by their wild-type parental strains; (ii) increased susceptibility to elevated temperatures; and (iii) at least fivefold less virulence of the lysostaphin-resistant variants than their wild-type strains in a mouse kidney infection model, with the lysostaphin-resistant variants being outcompeted in coinfections with their wild-type parental strains. During a 14-day serial passage without selective pressure, the lysostaphin-resistant variants failed to develop compensatory mutations which restored their fitness. These results suggest that should lysostaphin resistance due to an alteration in the FemA function emerge in S. aureus during therapy with lysostaphin, the resistant variants would be less fit and less virulent, and, in addition, infections with these strains would be easily treatable with β-lactam antibiotics

Characterization of Membrane-Associated <i>Clostridium perfringens</i> Enterotoxin following Pronase Treatment

ABSTRACT After binding, Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) initially localizes in a small (∼90-kDa) complex in plasma membranes. This event is followed by formation of a second membrane complex, referred to as large (160-kDa) complex. Contrary to a previous hypothesis proposing that CPE inserts into intestinal brush border membranes (BBMs) when this toxin is localized in the small complex, this study shows that BBMs do not offer CPE localized in the small complex protection from pronase. However, our experiments indicate that BBMs do substantially protect CPE from pronase when this toxin is localized in large complex. Since the onset of CPE-induced permeability alterations closely coincides with large-complex formation, these new results suggest that CPE-induced alterations in permeability may result from pore formation due to the partial membrane insertion of CPE when this toxin is present in large complex. </jats:p