Abstract:
The dihydropteroate synthase is one of several crucial enzymes in the de novo
biosynthesis of folate cofactors. Since this enzyme is found only in microorganisms
and is absent in the human cell, it is an ideal target for enzyme inhibitor development.
It has long been known that sulfa drugs act by targeting this enzyme, and that
resistance to sulfa drugs in many microorganisms has been associated with mutations
in the gene coding for this enzyme. Mutations at residues 53 and 55 of M.leprae have
previously been reported from dapsone-resistant strains, however, there is no definite
evidence linking these mutations with the resistant phenotype in M.leprae.
I cloned the wild-type M.leprae folP gene and three mutants – two single mutants
(T53I, P55R) and one double mutant (T53I+P55R) – inserted them into an expression
vector, and expressed them in the dihydropteroate synthase-deficient E.coli strain. All
recombinant plasmids encoding for dihydropteroate synthase produced functional
enzymes that could complement the growth on the minimum media by E.coli lacking
the gene encoding for this enzyme. Sulfonamide drugs at the concentration that
inhibited the growth of the wild-type clone of dihydropteroate synthase did not inhibit
the growth of mutant clones, indicating that the mutations at residues 53 and 55 –
corresponding to mutants T53I and P55R – in the gene coding for the enzyme
contributed to drug resistance in M.leprae. Prior to kinetic analysis, the enzymes were
purified to homogeneity by means of a short nucleotide sequence encoding six
histidine residues that had earlier been introduced at the 3’ end of the folP gene. For
the mutant enzymes, as compared to the wild type, analysis showed an 8- to 50-fold
increase in Km to the enzyme substrate (para-aminobenzoic acid) and a 20- to 1,000-
fold increase in Ki to and IC50 of para-aminobenzoic analogues (enzyme inhibitors).
The results suggest that residues 53 and 55 of dihydropteroate synthase in M.leprae
are crucial for catalysis, since mutations at these two residues affect the affinity for
binding both to the enzyme substrate and to enzyme inhibitors (sulfonamide
compounds).