Aminophosphinates against Helicobacter pylori ureolysis-Biochemical and whole-cell inhibition characteristics

PLoS One. 2017 Aug 9;12(8):e0182437. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182437. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Urease is an important virulence factor from Helicobacter pylori that enables bacterial colonization of human gastric mucosa. Specific inhibition of urease activity can be regarded as a promising adjuvant strategy for eradication of this pathogen. A group of organophosphorus inhibitors of urease, namely, aminophosphinic acid and aminophosphonic acid derivatives, were evaluated in vitro against H. pylori urease. The kinetic characteristics of recombinant enzyme activity demonstrated a competitive reversible mode of inhibition with Ki values ranging from 0.294 to 878 μM. N-n-Hexylaminomethyl-P-aminomethylphosphinic acid and N-methylaminomethyl-P-hydroxymethylphosphinic acid were the most effective inhibitors (Ki = 0.294 μM and 1.032 μM, respectively, compared to Ki = 23 μM for the established urease inhibitor acetohydroxamic acid). The biological relevance of the inhibitors was verified in vitro against a ureolytically active Escherichia coli Rosetta host that expressed H. pylori urease and against a reference strain, H. pylori J99 (CagA+/VacA+). The majority of the studied compounds exhibited urease-inhibiting activity in these whole-cell systems. Bis(N-methylaminomethyl)phosphinic acid was found to be the most effective inhibitor in the susceptibility profile studies of H. pylori J99. The cytotoxicity of nine structurally varied inhibitors was evaluated against four normal human cell lines and was found to be negligible.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • BALB 3T3 Cells
  • Cell Line
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Escherichia coli / enzymology
  • Helicobacter Infections / drug therapy
  • Helicobacter pylori / drug effects*
  • Helicobacter pylori / enzymology
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Phosphinic Acids / therapeutic use*
  • Phosphorous Acids / therapeutic use*
  • Urease / antagonists & inhibitors*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Phosphinic Acids
  • Phosphorous Acids
  • Urease

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (www.ncn.gov.pl), grant no. 2011/03/B/NZ6/04964 to AG and 2015/17/N/NZ1/00027 to KM. English editing was funded by the Wroclaw Centre of Biotechnology Program, The Leading National Research Centre (KNOW) for the years 2014-2018 (know.wroc.pl).