Structure-activity relationships for antibacterial to antifungal conversion of kanamycin to amphiphilic analogues

Marina Fosso, Madher N. AlFindee, Qian Zhang, Vincent De Paul Nzuwah Nziko, Yukie Kawasaki, Sanjib K. Shrestha, Jeremiah Bearss, Rylee Gregory, Jon Y. Takemoto, Cheng Wei Tom Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Novel fungicides are urgently needed. It was recently reported that the attachment of an octyl group at the O-4″ position of kanamycin B converts this antibacterial aminoglycoside into a novel antifungal agent. To elucidate the structure-activity relationship (SAR) for this phenomenon, a lead compound FG03 with a hydroxyl group replacing the 3″-NH2 group of kanamycin B was synthesized. FG03's antifungal activity and synthetic scheme inspired the synthesis of a library of kanamycin B analogues alkylated at various hydroxyl groups. SAR studies of the library revealed that for antifungal activity the O-4″ position is the optimal site for attaching a linear alkyl chain and that the 3″-NH2 and 6″-OH groups of the kanamycin B parent molecule are not essential for antifungal activity. The discovery of lead compound, FG03, is an example of reviving clinically obsolete drugs like kanamycin by simple chemical modification and an alternative strategy for discovering novel antimicrobials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4398-4411
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Organic Chemistry
Volume80
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015
Externally publishedYes

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