Molecular probes for targeting of cell density-indicating compounds

Abstract

A new approach for targeting chemotherapeutics to focal bacterial infections is provided. Such focal infections are characterized by high densities of different bacteria and thus high concentrations of their extracellular signal molecules sensing the cell density. In gram-negative bacteria, one of such signal molecules is acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL, member of the autoinducer family AI-1), wherein species-specificity is achieved by acyl-residues, and HSLs are common for all gram-negative bacteria. In gram-positive bacteria, oligopeptides secreted by the bacteria communicate the cell density. In addition, there are cell density signal molecules (members of the autoinducer family AI-2) which communicate between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The general scheme of the present invention is molecular modules that comprise both a targeting component and a chemotherapeutical component which serves for photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT). One preferred embodiment of the present invention is to target photosensitizers to the extracellular signal molecules instead of on the bacteria themselves. Targeting of the photosensitizers is mediated via molecules with efficient binding to the HSL-moiety of the acyl-HSL, so that a broad spectrum of gram-negative bacteria can be knocked out. Photosensitizers used in the present invention can be packed into special liposomes with lipid chelators or multiple coupled to dendrimers, so that they are especially effective for PACT. In addition, selected molecules with high affinity to a common moiety of such signal molecules, like HSL, may be used as molecular probes for the search of yet undiscovered cell density dependent signals.