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Small molecule target identification is a critical step in modern antibacterial drug discovery, particularly against multi-drug resistant pathogens. Albocycline (ALB) is a macrolactone natural product with potent activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) whose mechanism of action has been elusive to date. Herein, we report biochemical and genomic studies that reveal ALB does not target bacterial peptidoglycan biosynthesis or the ribosome; rather, it appears to modulate NADPH ratios and upregulate redox sensing in the cell consistent with previous studies at Upjohn. Owing to the complexity inherent in biological pathways, further genomic assays are needed to identify the true molecular target(s) of albocycline., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Albocycline (ALB) is a unique macrolactone natural product with potent, narrow-spectrum activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-intermediate (VISA), and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) strains (MIC = 0.5-1.0 μg/mL). Described herein is the synthesis and evaluation of a novel series analogs derived from albocycline by functionalization at three specific sites: the C2-C3 enone, the tertiary carbinol at C4, and the allylic C16 methyl group. Exploration of the structure-activity relationships (SAR) by means of minimum inhibitory concentration assays (MICs) revealed that C4 ester analog 6 was twice as potent as ALB, which represents a class of lead compound that can be further studied to address multi-drug resistant pathogens., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bacterial keratitis causes significant blindness, yet antimicrobial resistance has rendered current treatments ineffective. Polymyxin B-trimethoprim (PT) plus rifampin has potent in vitro activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa , two important causes of keratitis. Here we further characterize this combination against P. aeruginosa in a murine keratitis model. PT plus rifampin performed comparably to or better than moxifloxacin, the gold standard, suggesting that the combination may be a promising therapy for bacterial keratitis., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Microbiology.)