Advances in mycobacterial isocitrate lyase targeting and inhibitors

Isocitrate lyase plays a key role for survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the latent form during a chronic stage of infection. This enzyme is important for M. tuberculosis during steady stage growth when it converts isocitrate to succinate and glyoxylate. Then, the glyoxylate is condensed with acetyl-CoA to form malate by malate synthase. The carbon conserving glyoxylate pathway has not been observed in mammals; therefore, it has been determined as a potential drug target for discovery of a new antituberculosis agent. Novel active molecules should shorten the duration of therapy, prevent resistance development and eliminate latent disease. The review summarizes recent progresses in isocitrate lyase inhibitors, overviews structural analogues of several metabolic intermediates (3-nitropropionate, 3-bromopyruvate, itaconate, itaconic anhydride), peptide inhibitors, and recently developed inhibitors with various chemical structures. The largest inhibitory activity against isocitrate lyase (IC(50) of 0.10 ± 0.01 μM) and concomitantly a significant antimycobacterial activity has been presented by fluoroquinolone derivative 1-cyclopropyl-7-[3,5-dimethyl-4-(3-nitropropanoyl)piperazin-1-yl]-6-fluoro-8-methoxy-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxylic acid, which has incorporated 3-nitropropionyl group as one of the structural analogue of succinate, a metabolic intermediate.