Efflux Pumps Are Involved in the Defense of Gram-Negative Bacteria against the Natural Products Isobavachalcone and Diospyrone

Victor Kuete (1, 2) , Barthélémy Ngameni (3) , Jean T Tangmouo (4) , Jean-Michel Bolla (1) , Sandrine Alibert-Franco (1) , Bonaventure T Ngadjui (4, 3) , Jean-Marie Pagès (1)

1 TMCD2 - Transporteurs membranaires, chimioresistance et drug-design
2 Department of Biochemistry
3 Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science
4 Faculty of Science

The activities of two naturally occurring compounds, isobavachalcone and diospyrone, against documented strains and multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterial isolates were evaluated. The results indicated that the two compounds exhibited intrinsic antibacterial activity against several Gram-negative bacteria, and their activities were significantly improved in the presence of an efflux pump inhibitor (MIC values decreased to below 10 g/ml). In addition, the activities of isobavachalcone and diospyrone against various strains exhibiting deletions of the major efflux pump components (AcrAB, TolC) were significantly increased. The overall results indicate that isobavachalcone and diospyrone could be candidates for the development of new drugs against MDR strains and that their use in combination with efflux pump inhibitors reinforces their activity.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmacology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology; Chemical Sciences; Medicinal Chemistry

Victor Kuete, Barthélémy Ngameni, Jean T Tangmouo, Jean-Michel Bolla, Sandrine Alibert-Franco, et al.. Efflux Pumps Are Involved in the Defense of Gram-Negative Bacteria against the Natural Products Isobavachalcone and Diospyrone. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2010, 54 (5), pp.1749 - 1752. ⟨10.1128/AAC.01533-09⟩. ⟨hal-01425045⟩