Peptides as inhibitors of the first phosphorylation step of the Streptomyces coelicolor phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system.

The phosphotransferase system (PTS) controls the use of sugars in bacteria. The PTS is ubiquitous in bacteria, but it does not occur in plants and animals; it modulates catabolite repression, intermediate metabolism, gene expression, and chemotaxis. Its uniqueness and pleiotropic function make the PTS an attractive target for new antibacterial drugs. The PTS is constituted of two general proteins, namely, enzyme I (EI) and the histidine phosphocarrier (HPr), and various sugar-specific permeases. EI has two domains: the N-terminal domain (EIN), which binds to HPr, and the C-terminal domain (EIC), which contains the dimerization interface. In this work, we determined the binding affinities of peptides derived from EIN of Streptomyces coelicolor (EIN(sc)) against HPr of the same organism (HPr(sc)), by using nuclear magnetic resonance and isothermal titration calorimetry techniques. Furthermore, we measured the affinity of EIN(sc) for (i) a peptide derived from HPr(sc), containing the active-site histidine, and (ii) other peptides identified previously by phage display and combinatorial chemistry in Escherichia coli [Mukhija, S. L., et al (1998) Eur. J. Biochem. 254, 433-438; Mukhija, S., and Erni, B. (1997) Mol. Microbiol. 25, 1159-1166]. The affinities were in the range of ~10 μM, being slightly higher for the binding of EIN(sc) with peptides derived from HPr(sc), phage display, or combinatorial chemistry (K(D) ~ 5 μM). Because the affinity of intact EIN(sc) for the whole HPr(sc) is 12 μM, we suggest that the assayed peptides might be considered as good hit compounds for inhibiting the interaction between HPr(sc) and EIN(sc).