Aspectos teóricos da interação entre compostos cefalosporínicos e a Proteína 5 de Ligação à Penicilina de Escherichia coli usando Dinâmica Molecular

Abstract

Escherichia coli is an anaerobic Gram-negative bacillus that naturally inhabits the intestines of mammals. The diseases arise when the bacteria reaches other organs of our body, causing infections, mainly in the urinary tract of women, due to the proximity of the female urethra with the anus. Antibiotics were used in the treatment of these infections, such as antibiotics of the cephalosporin class, which are the group with the highest number of β-lactam antibiotics in clinical use. These compounds can inhibiting the enzymatic function of Penicillin-Binding Proteins (PBP), which is responsible for the final step of biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, an essential component for the survival of bacteria. In this work, the antimicrobial compounds cefoxitin, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, cephalothin, cefixime, cefmetazole and 7- aminocephalosporanic acid were chosen based on experimental studies of biological activity in the fight against the opportunistic Gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to be studied theoretically through Molecular Dynamics simulations, binding free energy calculations, and interaction energy per residue, for the determination of their potential biological activity in inhibiting the enzymatic function of E. coli specific PBP, Penicillin Binding Protein 5 (PBP5), therefore its inhibition leads to cell death. More favorable binding free energies were obtained for the cefoxitin (crystallographic), cephalothin and cefuroxime ligands, -31.471 Kcal/mol, - 34.225 Kcal/mol and -35.085 Kcal/mol, respectively, and it was observed that the catalytic residues Ser44 and His216 presented more favorable energy contributions to the system formed by the cephalothin ligand. Thus, it was suggested that cephalothin has excellent potential for inhibition of the enzymatic function of E. coli PBP5, responsible for the final phase of transpeptidation of the peptidoglycan layer.