Crystal Structures of Membrane Transporter MmpL3, an Anti-TB Drug Target.

The defining feature of the mycobacterial outer membrane (OM) is the presence of mycolic acids (MAs), which, in part, render the bilayer extremely hydrophobic and impermeable to external insults, including many antibiotics. Although the biosynthetic pathway of MAs is well studied, the mechanism(s) by which these lipids are transported across the cell envelope is(are) much less known. Mycobacterial membrane protein Large 3 (MmpL3), an essential inner membrane (IM) protein, is implicated in MA transport, but its exact function has not been elucidated. It is believed to be the cellular target of several antimycobacterial compounds; however, evidence for direct inhibition of MmpL3 activity is also lacking. Here, we establish that MmpL3 is the MA flippase at the IM of mycobacteria and is the molecular target of BM212, a 1,5-diarylpyrrole compound. We develop assays that selectively access mycolates on the surface of Mycobacterium smegmatis spheroplasts, allowing us to monitor flipping of MAs across the IM. Using these assays, we establish the mechanism of action of BM212 as a potent MmpL3 inhibitor, and use it as a molecular probe to demonstrate the requirement for functional MmpL3 in the transport of MAs across the IM. Finally, we show that BM212 binds MmpL3 directly and inhibits its activity. Our work provides fundamental insights into OM biogenesis and MA transport in mycobacteria. Furthermore, our assays serve as an important platform for accelerating the validation of small molecules that target MmpL3, and their development as future antituberculosis drugs.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/114/30/7993.full.pdf

MmpL3 is the flippase for mycolic acids in mycobacteria

Mycobacterial genomes contain large sets of loci encoding membrane proteins that belong to a family of multidrug resistance pumps designated Resistance-Nodulation-Cell Division (RND) permeases. Mycobacterial membrane protein Large (MmpL) transporters represent a subclass of RND transporters known to participate in the export of lipid components across the cell envelope. These surface-exposed lipids with unusual structures play key roles in the physiology of mycobacteria and/or can act as virulence factors and immunomodulators. Defining the substrate specificity of MmpLs and their mechanisms of regulation helps understanding how mycobacteria elaborate their complex cell wall. This review describes the diversity of MmpL proteins in mycobacteria, emphasising their high abundance in a few opportunistic rapid-growing mycobacteria. It reports the conservation of mmpL loci between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, useful in predicting the role of MmpLs with unknown functions. Paradoxically, whereas MmpLs participate in drug resistance mechanisms, they represent also attractive pharmacological targets, opening the way for exciting translational applications. The most recent advances regarding structural/functional information are also provided to explain the molecular basis underlying the proton-motive force driven lipid transport. Overall, this review emphasises the Janus-face nature of MmpLs at the crossroads between antibiotic resistance mechanisms and exquisite vulnerability to drugs.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mmi.13675

The diverse family of MmpL transporters in mycobacteria: from regulation to antimicrobial developments.

The causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis and more recently totally drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, display unique mechanisms to survive in the host. A four-drug treatment regimen was introduced 40 years ago but the emergence of multidrug-resistance and more recently TDR necessitates the identification of new targets and drugs for the cure of M. tuberculosis infection. The current efforts in the drug development process are insufficient to completely eradicate the TB epidemic. For almost five decades the TB drug development process remained stagnant. The last 10 years have made sudden progress giving some new and highly promising drugs including bedaquiline, delamanid, and pretomanid. Many of the candidates are repurposed compounds, which were developed to treat other infections but later, exhibited anti-TB properties also. Each class of drug has a specific target and a definite mode of action. These targets are either involved in cell wall biosynthesis, protein synthesis, DNA/RNA synthesis, or metabolism. This review discusses recent progress in the discovery of newly developed and Food and Drug Administration approved drugs as well as repurposed drugs, their targets, mode of action, drug-target interactions, and their structure-activity relationship.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/med.21602

An overview of new antitubercular drugs, drug candidates, and their targets

The cell envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is notable for the abundance of mycolic acids (MAs), essential to mycobacterial viability, and of other species-specific lipids. The mycobacterial cell envelope is extremely hydrophobic, which contributes to virulence and antibiotic resistance. However, exactly how fatty acids and lipidic elements are transported across the cell envelope for cell-wall biosynthesis is unclear. Mycobacterial membrane protein Large 3 (MmpL3) is essential and required for transport of trehalose monomycolates (TMMs), precursors of MA-containing trehalose dimycolates (TDM) and mycolyl arabinogalactan peptidoglycan, but the exact function of MmpL3 remains elusive. Here, we report a crystal structure of Mycobacterium smegmatis MmpL3 at a resolution of 2.59 A, revealing a monomeric molecule that is structurally distinct from all known bacterial membrane proteins. A previously unknown MmpL3 ligand, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), was discovered inside this transporter. We also show, via native mass spectrometry, that MmpL3 specifically binds both TMM and PE, but not TDM, in the micromolar range. These observations provide insight into the function of MmpL3 and suggest a possible role for this protein in shuttling a variety of lipids to strengthen the mycobacterial cell wall.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/116/23/11241.full.pdf

MmpL3 is a lipid transporter that binds trehalose monomycolate and phosphatidylethanolamine.

The MmpL family of proteins translocates complex (glyco)lipids and siderophores across the cell envelope of mycobacteria and closely related Corynebacteriaceae and plays important roles in the biogenesis of the outer membrane of these organisms. Despite their significance in the physiology and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and from the perspective of developing novel antituberculosis agents, little is known about their structure and mechanism of translocation. In this study, the essential mycobacterial mycolic acid transporter, MmpL3, and its orthologue in Corynebacterium glutamicum, CmpL1, were investigated as prototypical MmpL proteins to gain insight into the transmembrane topology, tertiary and quaternary structures, and functional regions of this transporter family. The combined genetic, biochemical, and biophysical studies indicate that MmpL3 and CmpL1 are structurally similar to Gram-negative resistance-nodulation and division efflux pumps. They harbor 12 transmembrane segments interrupted by two large soluble periplasmic domains and function as homotrimers to export long-chain (C22-C90) mycolic acids, possibly in their acetylated form, esterified to trehalose. The mapping of a number of functional residues within the middle region of the transmembrane domain of MmpL3 shows a striking overlap with mutations associated with resistance to MmpL3 inhibitors. The results suggest that structurally diverse inhibitors of MmpL3 all target the proton translocation path of the transporter and that multiresistance to these inhibitors is enabled by conformational changes in MmpL3.

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Benoit Jacques

Papers

Structure–Function Profile of MmpL3, the Essential Mycolic Acid Transporter from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Active site remodeling during the catalytic cycle in metal-dependent fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolases.