Discovery of New Microbial Collagenase Inhibitors

Bacterial virulence factors are mediating bacterial pathogenesis and infectivity. Collagenases are virulence factors secreted by several bacterial stains, such as , , and . These enzymes are among the most efficient degraders of collagen, playing a crucial role in host colonization. Thus, they are an important target for developing new anti-infective agents because of their pivotal roles in the infection process. A primary screening using a fluorescence resonance energy-transfer assay was used to experimentally evaluate the inhibitory activity of 77 compounds on collagenase A. Based on their inhibitory activity and chemical diversity, a small number of compounds was selected to determine the corresponding half maximal inhibitory con-centration (IC50). Additionally, we used molecular docking to get a better understanding of the enzyme-compound interaction. Several natural compounds (capsaicin, 4',5-dihydroxyflavone, curcumin, dihydrorobinetin, palmatine chloride, biochanin A, 2'-hydroxychalcone, and juglone) were identified as promising candidates for further development into useful anti-infective agents against infections caused by multi-drug-resistant bacterial pathogens which include collagenase A in their enzymatic set.