Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterial strain that utilizes Quorum Sensing (QS) to produce biofilms which increase antibiotic resistance, as well as to produce virulence factors that cause tissue damage within a host. P. aeruginosa is most often found in hospitalized immune-deficient patients, and thousands of infected patients die each year. Finding small molecules that regulate QS through binding to the LasR receptor, a well-studied receptor that is known to initiate the entire QS pathway of P. aeruginosa, may lead to therapeutics which limit the harmful effects of an infection. 3-oxododecanoyl-homoserine lactone (3O-C12-HSL) is the natural autoinducer that binds to this receptor. The goal of this project is to improve the synthesis of 3O-C12-HSL, as well as 3-oxo-dodecanoyl-homocysteine thiolactone (3O-C12-HTL); a compound with a very similar shape and binding affinity to 3O-C12-HSL that can also induce QS activity. The synthesis of both of these compounds presently suffer from low yields and require HPLC purification. Optimization of the synthesis is currently underway. These compounds are to be used in an E. coli LasR GFP reporter assay to analyze QS regulation by a variety of small molecules.

Quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa: Synthesis of natural derivatives

249th National Meeting (2015)

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