Quorum Quenchers from <i>Reynoutria japonica</i> in the Battle against Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA)

Over the past decade, methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) has become a major source of biofilm formation and a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance. The genes that govern biofilm formation are regulated by a signaling mechanism called the quorum-sensing sys...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maliha Fatima, Arshia Amin, Metab Alharbi, Sundas Ishtiaq, Wasim Sajjad, Faisal Ahmad, Sajjad Ahmad, Faisal Hanif, Muhammad Faheem, Atif Ali Khan Khalil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Molecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/28/6/2635
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Summary:Over the past decade, methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) has become a major source of biofilm formation and a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance. The genes that govern biofilm formation are regulated by a signaling mechanism called the quorum-sensing system. There is a need for new molecules to treat the infections caused by dangerous pathogens like MRSA. The current study focused on an alternative approach using juglone derivatives from <i>Reynoutria japonica</i> as quorum quenchers. Ten bioactive compounds from this plant, i.e., 2-methoxy-6-acetyl-7-methyljuglone, emodin, emodin 8-o-b glucoside, polydatin, resveratrol, physcion, citreorosein, quercetin, hyperoside, and coumarin were taken as ligands and docked with accessory gene regulator proteins A, B, and C and the signal transduction protein TRAP. The best ligand was selected based on docking score, ADMET properties, and the Lipinski rule. Considering all these parameters, resveratrol displayed all required drug-like properties with a docking score of −8.9 against accessory gene regulator protein C. To further assess the effectiveness of resveratrol, it was compared with the commercially available antibiotic drug penicillin. A comparison of all drug-like characteristics showed that resveratrol was superior to penicillin in many aspects. Penicillin showed a binding affinity of −6.7 while resveratrol had a score of −8.9 during docking. This was followed by molecular dynamic simulations wherein inhibitors in complexes with target proteins showed stability inside the active site during the 100 ns simulations. Structural changes due to ligand movement inside the cavity were measured in the protein targets, but they remained static due to hydrogen bonds. The results showed acceptable pharmacokinetic properties for resveratrol as compared to penicillin. Thus, we concluded that resveratrol has protective effects against <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> infections and that it suppresses the quorum-sensing ability of this bacterium by targeting its infectious proteins.
ISSN:1420-3049