An early report: a modified porphyrin-linked metronidazole targeting intracellular Porphyromonas gingivalis in cultured oral epithelial cells.

Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) has a strong association with the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. Recurrence of periodontal disease following therapy is attributed to numerous factors, and of growing interest is the potential problem of intracellular bacteria that are able to persist and multiply within the host cell, thereby facilitating relapse of infection. The effect of antibiotic therapy in controlling P. gingivalis is questionable. Accordingly, while metronidazole is very effective against anaerobic extracellular P. gingivalis by disrupting the DNA of anaerobic microbial cells, this antibiotic does not effectively penetrate into mammalian cells to inhibit intracellular bacteria. Therefore in the present study, a modified porphyrin-linked metronidazole adducts, developed in our laboratory, was used to kill intracellular P. gingivalis. A series of experiments were performed, including cytotoxicity assays and cellular uptake of adducts by flow cytometry coupled with live cell imaging analysis, P. gingivalis invasion and elimination assays, and the analysis of colocalization of P. gingivalis and porphyrin-linked metronidazole by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Findings indicated that P. gingivalis and porphyrin-linked metronidazole were colocalized in the cytoplasm, and this compound was able to kill P. gingivalis intracellular with a sufficient culture time. This is a novel antimicrobial approach in the elimination of P. gingivalis from the oral cavity.

Amino acid-linked porphyrin-nitroimidazole antibiotics targeting Porphyromonas gingivalis.

The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis requires porphyrin supplementation for growth. Previously, in order to inhibit P. gingivalis growth, we synthesised very effective 'Trojan horse' ester and amide-linked deuterporphyrin-nitroimidazole (DPIX-Nim) adducts that exploited this requirement to transport metronidazole-derived antibiotics with excellent antimicrobial selectivity and recognition by the HA2 porphyrin binding site. Herein, in the context of developing topical agents to target P. gingivalis, l-amino acids are incorporated into adducts as linkers to improve uptake. Ten 13- and 17-propionic amide regioisomers of l-amino acid-linked deuterporphyrin-nitroimidazole adducts were synthesised using a peptide coupling approach. DPIX-Lys regioisomers without attached nitroimidazole were also synthesised as comparison compounds. All the porphyrin adducts bound (Kd50 7 to 20 nM) to a recombinant HA2 receptor with similar binding affinity to haem, except the lysine-proline linked DPIX-Lys(Boc)Pro-Nim adducts (Kd50 300 nM) and the DPIX-Lys(Nim)-Nim adducts (Kd50 200 nM), both of which have large appended groups. DPIX-Lys(Boc)-Nim, DPIX-Lys(OH)-Nim, and DPIX-Pro-Nim adducts were shown to be very effective against P. gingivalis. DPIX-Lys(Boc)Pro-Nim adducts and DPIX-Lys(Nim)-Nim adducts showed weak activity. Importantly, DPIX-Lys(Boc)-Nim adducts were selective for P. gingivalis and, unlike metronidazole, did not kill a range of other anaerobic bacteria isolated from the human gastrointestinal tract.

The role of heme binding by DNA-protective protein from starved cells (Dps) in the Tolerance of Porphyromonas gingivalis to heme toxicity.

The widely expressed DNA-protective protein from starved-cells (Dps) family proteins are considered major contributors to prokaryotic resistance to stress. We show here that Porphyromonas gingivalis Dps (PgDps), previously described as an iron-storage and DNA-binding protein, also mediates heme sequestration. We determined that heme binds strongly to PgDps with an apparent K(d) of 3.7 × 10(-8) m and is coordinated by a single surface-located cysteine at the fifth axial ligand position. Heme and iron sequestered in separate sites by PgDps provide protection of DNA from H(2)O(2)-mediated free radical damage and were found to be important for growth of P. gingivalis under excess heme as the only iron source. Conservation of the heme-coordinating cysteine among Dps isoforms from the Bacteroidales order suggests that this function may be a common feature within these anaerobic bacteria.

Porphyrin-linked nitroimidazole antibiotics targeting Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory process affecting supporting tissues surrounding the teeth. The anaerobic gram-negative bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis is implicated in the disease. This organism requires the uptake of porphyrins most apparently as haem 1 from local haemorrhage and it has a HA2 receptor on the outer membrane for this purpose that provides the opportunity to achieve selective anti-microbial activity. Uniquely, this receptor is based on recognition of porphyrin macrocycle and on a propionic acid side-chain rather than recognition of the coordinated metal ion through chelation, a process used by other organisms with the HasA porphyrin receptor. Porphyrin-antibiotic conjugates 11, 12, 13a and 13b were designed as potential highly selective P. gingivalis inhibitors, a key point being that they are based on the use of free-base porphyrins to render them unpalatable to other organisms. These compounds were synthesised from metronidazole 4 and deuteroporphyrin IX 3. Conjugates 11, 12, 13a and 13b are all recognised by the HA2 receptor of P. gingivalis, bind as strongly as haem 1 to HA2 and are highly effective. For example, the amide-linked mono-metronidazole mono-acid adducts 11 and 12 have the same growth inhibitory activity towards P. gingivalis and both are two-fold more active than metronidazole 4 and ten- to twenty-fold more effective than the metronidazole derivative, amine 5. The methyl esters 9 and 10, in contrast, are not recognised by HA2 and are ineffective in inhibiting P. gingivalis, leading to the conclusion that capture by HA2 may be necessary for activity of the adducts. Preliminary growth inhibition assays involving a range of bacteria have demonstrated the high selectivity of conjugates 13a and 13b towards P. gingivalis.