Identification of Anti-tuberculosis Compounds From Aurone Analogs.

The emergence of multidrug-resistant () strains has made tuberculosis (TB) control more difficult. Aurone derivatives have demonstrated promising anti-bacterial activities, but their effects against have not been thoroughly determined. In this study, we aimed to develop anti-TB compounds from aurone analogs. We used a fluorescent protein tdTomato labeled CDC1551 strain to screen 146 synthesized aurone derivatives for effective anti-TB compounds. The 9504, 9505, 9501, 9510, AA2A, and AA8 aurones inhibited the growth of with minimal inhibitory concentrations of 6.25, 12.5, 25, 25, 25, and 50 μM, respectively. We also examined cytotoxicities of the six leads against the human liver cell line HepG2, the primate kidney cell line Vero and human monocyte THP-1 derived macrophages. Three of the aurone leads (9504, 9501, and 9510) showed low cytotoxic effects on all three cell lines and high inhibitory efficacy (selectivity index > 10). Aurone 9504, 9501, AA2A, or AA8 significantly reduced the load in the lungs of infected mice after a 12-days treatment. We determined that the aurone leads inhibit chorismate synthase, an essential enzyme for aromatic acid synthesis. Our studies demonstrate the promise of synthetic aurones as novel anti-TB therapeutics.