Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-2-2025

Journal

ACS Omega

DOI

10.1021/acsomega.5c09571

PMID

41358085

PMCID

PMC12676344

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-17-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Epigenetically targeted therapies, especially those inhibiting S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-dependent methylations of DNA, mRNA, and histones, have advanced rapidly in cancer treatment. However, these therapies remain underexplored for antibiotic development, despite the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Here, we screened a focused library of SAM analogs against the DNA adenine methyltransferase CamA specific to the enteric pathogen Clostridioides difficile. At the same time, we examined six other adenine methyltransferases, including two bacterial DNA methyltransferases and four human RNA methyltransferases having distinct RNA substrates. Compound 113 selectively inhibited CamA (IC50 = 0.15 μM). In addition, compound 67 inhibited Caulobacter crescentus CcrM (IC50 = 1.8 μM), which has orthologs present in pathogens such as Brucella, while compounds 77 and 37 inhibited the human RNA methyltransferase complexes MettL3-MettL14 and MettL5-Trm112, respectively, at 7–8 μM concentrations. These results provide chemical probes for exploring the role of CamA in sporulation and colonization with potential as antivirulence agents against C. difficile infection. Our study also introduces the first chemical probes for inhibiting bacterial CcrM and human MettL5, each of which plays key roles in their respective hosts.

Published Open-Access

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