In this study we explored the pharmaceutically underexploited ATPase domain of DNA gyrase (GyrB) as a potential platform for developing novel agents that target
Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this effort a combination of ligand- and structure-based pharmacophore modeling was used to identify structurally diverse small-molecule inhibitors of the mycobacterial GyrB domain based on the crystal structure of the enzyme with a pyrrolamide inhibitor (PDB ID:
4BAE). Pharmacophore modeling and subsequent in vitro screening resulted in an initial hit compound
5 [(
E)-5-(5-(2-(1
H-benzo[
d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-cyanovinyl)furan-2-yl)isophthalic acid; IC
50=4.6±0.1 μ
m], which was subsequently tailored through a combination of molecular modeling and synthetic chemistry to yield the optimized lead compound
24 [(
E)-3-(5-(2-cyano-2-(5-methyl-1
H-benzo[
d]imidazol-2-yl)vinyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzoic acid; IC
50=0.3±0.2 μ
m], which was found to display considerable in vitro efficacy against the purified GyrB enzyme and potency against the H
37Rv strain of
M. tuberculosis. Structural handles were also identified that will provide a suitable foundation for further optimization of these potent analogues.