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Published on: February 17, 2017
Tren-based analogues of bacillibactin: structure and stability
Emily A Dertz1, Jide Xu, Kenneth N Raymond
1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1460, USA.
Synthetic siderophores, bacillibactin and enterobactin analogues, were studied. Glycine addition to bacillibactin destabilized ferric complexes, unlike other amino acids that enhanced stability in Tren-based analogues.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Coordination Chemistry
- Structural Biology
Background:
- Siderophores are high-affinity iron-chelating compounds essential for microbial iron uptake.
- Enterobactin and bacillibactin are key microbial siderophores with catecholamide chelating groups.
- Understanding structure-stability relationships in ferric complexes is crucial for developing iron chelators.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of the glycine moiety in bacillibactin on ferric complex stability.
- To compare the thermodynamic and structural properties of bacillibactin analogues with enterobactin analogues.
- To elucidate the role of amino acid substitutions in Tren-based synthetic siderophores.
Main Methods:
- Potentiometric and spectrophotometric titrations for solution thermodynamic behavior.
- X-ray crystallography and circular dichroism for structural and chiral analysis.
- Molecular modeling to determine ferric complex geometry.
Main Results:
- Amino acid insertion into Tren-based ligands increased acidity and ferric complex stability compared to TRENCAM.
- Glycine incorporation into bacillibactin caused a backbone inversion and opposite chirality versus enterobactin.
- This structural change led to destabilization of the ferric bacillibactin complex relative to ferric enterobactin.
Conclusions:
- The glycine moiety significantly influences bacillibactin's ferric complex stability through structural alterations.
- Ligand design, including amino acid choice, critically affects siderophore-metal complex properties.
- Findings provide insights into siderophore function and inform the design of novel iron-chelating agents.
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