Infection Therapies Flashcards
(271 cards)
What is selective toxicity?
Process within bacteria which are more susceptible to antibiotics than the equivalent process in the host
Antibiotics should be designed to interrupt biological processes which are not found in humans but are essential for survival in bacteria
Why does bacteria have a cell wall?
A single cell and exposed, membrane is insufficient so needs wall
Protects from mechanical damage and osmotic pressure
Bacteria is high salt concentration cell wall prevents bacterial lysis
What is the wall structure like of a gram-positive cell?
Dense layer composed of numerous rows of peptidoglycan, thick cell wall
What is the wall structure like of a gram-negative cell?
Thin inner layer of peptidoglycan, then an outer membrane on top of that (double membrane structure)
Describe and explain the bacterial cell wall:
Mixture of polysaccharides and lipids:
NAM|NAG|NAM
| a.a chains |
V - — ——- V
peptide chains bound to NAM sugars due to carboxylic acid side chain
—–= cross linking so rigidity increases
Have some D a.a to provide resistance (unnatural)
Why has penicillin got a B lactam structure?
B lactam much more reactive than a typical amide because of the strained ring system defavours resoance, makes it very reactive and susceptible to nucleophilic attack
How does penicillin work?
Inhibit the enzyme transpeptidase in a cell wall that cross links the cell wall as it has a similar structure of peptidoglycan D-Ala-D-ala so can bind in the active site
B lactam sits in the same position in amide bond of natural substrate which binds to seriene in A/S
Covalent inhibitor
What normally occurs in the cell wall formation of a bacteria?
Sereine hydroxyl performs nucleophilic attack at terminal amide bond of D-alanine an displaces it, forms and ester linkage
Ester is reactive and the peptide chain comes along and forms cross link
Why is Penicillin G acid sensitive?
- Carbonyl in B lactam ring is highly susceptible to nucleophilic attack
- Acid catalysed ring opening of the highly strained 4 membered lactam ring releases strain
- The neighbouring acyl group can actively participate in an intramolecular mechanism to open the lactam ring, so can’t be a covalent inhibitor beta-lactam could’ve destroyed
How can penicillin be modified to make it less acid sensitive?
Limiting neighbouring (R side chain) group activity by adding an electron withdrawing group
Pulls electron density away so carbonyl oxygen less likely to donate electron to B lactam
What are penicillin resistant bacteria and how do they work?
Resistance because enzymes catalyse the hydrolysis of penicillin, B- lactamase enzymes
B- lactamase has the same sereine- OH group in the active site so penicillin can bind, but leaves enough space for water to come in and hydrolyse penicillin and inactivate it
What are two ways that B lactamase sensitivity can be reduced?
- Penicillin analogues that are not recognised by B lactamase
- Co-administrate B- lactamase inhibitors
Describe an example of a penicillin derivative which isn’t identified by B lactamase?
Bulky R side chains such as an aromatic group with methyl side chains
Acts as a steric shield
Can bind to transpeptidsae but not B lactamase
What is an example of a B lactamase inhibitor?
Clavulanic acid
Binds in B lactamase A/S and undergoes nucleophilic attack and produces intermediate
Covalent inhibitor
Needs to be administered with penicillin
Why is it difficult to treat Gram -ve bacteria?
Has to get through cell membrane to get to cell wall
Also has to pass through periplasmic space which contain enzymes which drug can be hydrolysed
Passes through using porins which can pump back out the antibiotic as foreign material
What are broad spectrum antibiotics?
Can target both Gram-ve and Gram+ve bacteria
What is semisynthesis of penicillin?
Fermentation of penicillin fungi cultures
Penicillin amylase which can hydrolyse it and remove side chain, got to hydrolyse it acymatically as B lactams are very reactive, can be easily modified after
Why are cephalosporins used and how are they different to penicillin?
Activity against some penicillin resistant bacteria because of resistance against B lactamase
Lower activity than penicillins so need higher doses, but more broader spectrum
Similar to penicillin is but feature a six membered ring fuse to the beta-lactam so has less ring strain, so more stable to acid hydrolysis than the penicillin
Why are cephalosporins more stable in acidic conditions but still reactive?
The six membered ring causes the structure to be less strained so the amide bond is less reactive, so less readily hydrolysed in acidic conditions
Still reactive as curly arrow goes further down to remove acid to make it more reactive
How are cephalosporins inactivated?
Metabolic hydrolysis of the acetate reduces compound activity
Hydrolysis changes acetate to a OH group which isn’t as good of a leaving group as the acetate so reduces activity
How would you decrease the inactivation of cephalosporins?
Remove acetate group
Well absorbed as less polar but reduced activity as methyl group isn’t as good leaving group
OR
change it to a cephaloridine
How does vancomycin work?
A glycopeptide antibiotic inhibits peptidoglycan cross linking by binding to the D-ala, D-ala terminus of the cross linking peptide, similar to penicillins and cephalosporins but does this in a different way
It binds to the substrate rather than the enzyme by binding to the substrate it means the substrate can’t fit in the active site of the transpeptidase enzyme
What is the bonding in vancomycin?
Amide carbonyl on vancomycin structure
Amide NH of D alanine unit, hydrogen bonding
What occurs in vancomycin resistance?
In vancomycin resistant bacteria, instead of the final D-alanine, they have D-lactic acid
This means there is an ester linkage rather than an amide linkage, so no NH for critical binding, instead there are two oxygens so repel each other
The ester linkage is tolerated by transpeptidase but not by vancomycin