Structure-Based Identification of Potential Drugs Against FmtA of Staphylococcus aureus: Virtual Screening, Molecular Dynamics, MM-GBSA, and QM/MM

Staphylococcus aureus is resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics and causes several skin diseases to life-threatening diseases. FmtA is found to be one of the main factors involved in methicillin resistance in S. aureus. FmtA exhibits an esterase activity that removes the D-Ala from teichoic acid. Teichoic acids played a significant role in cell wall synthesis, cell division, colonization, biofilm formation, virulence, antibiotic resistance, and pathogenesis. The virtual screening of drug molecules against the crystal structure of FmtA was performed and the binding affinities of top three molecules (ofloxacin, roflumilast, and furazolidone) were predicted using molecular docking. The presence of positive potential and electron affinity regions in screened drug molecules by DFT analysis illustrated that these molecules are reactive in nature. The protein-ligand complexes were subjected to molecular dynamics simulation. Molecular dynamics analysis such as RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, PCA, and FEL results suggested that FmtA-drug(s) complexes are stable. MM-GBSA binding affinity and QM/MM results (Delta G, Delta H, and Delta S) revealed that active site residues (Ser127, Lys130, Tyr211, Asp213, and Asn343) of FmtA played an essential for the binding of the drug(s) to form a lower energy stable protein-ligand complexes. FmtA(Delta 42) was purified using cation exchange and gel filtration chromatography. Fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism results showed that interactions of drugs with FmtA(Delta 42) affect the tertiary structure and increase the thermostability of the protein. The screened molecules need to be tested and could be further modified to develop the antimicrobial compounds against S. aureus.