Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39880176›Full record

ArticleBioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters2025

A benzoxazolyl urea inhibits VraS and enhances antimicrobials against vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Emerson P Heckler, Liaqat Ali, Shrijan Bhattarai, Brittnee Cagle-White, Nickalus C Smith, Erik D Moore, Robert A Coover, May H Abdel Aziz, Aurijit Sarkar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Emerson P HecklerDepartment of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy, High Point University, High Point, NC, USA.
Liaqat AliDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Outcomes, Fisch College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
Shrijan BhattaraiDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Outcomes, Fisch College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
Brittnee Cagle-WhiteDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Outcomes, Fisch College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
Nickalus C SmithDepartment of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy, High Point University, High Point, NC, USA.
Erik D MooreDepartment of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA.
Robert A CooverDepartment of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy, High Point University, High Point, NC, USA.
May H Abdel AzizDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Outcomes, Fisch College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA. Electronic address: MAbdelaziz@UTTyler.edu.
Aurijit SarkarDepartment of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy, High Point University, High Point, NC, USA; Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA. Electronic address: Sarkar@Creighton.edu.

Funding

Mechanistic Insights into VraS Mutations Linked to Bacterial ResistanceR21AI154189 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TYLER · PI ABDELAZIZ, MAY H. · 2021 to 2022
$381k
NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI154189
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) is a pathogen of concern. VraS, a histidine kinase, facilitates the VISA phenotype. Here, we reveal a benzoxazolyl urea (chemical 1) that directly inhibits VraS and enhances vancomycin to below the clinical breakpoint against an archetypal VISA strain, Mu50. 50 μM of 1 enhances vancomycin 16-fold to 0.25 μg/mL. The MIC of oxacillin is enhanced 32-fold to 8 μg/mL, only slightly above its clinical breakpoint. The chemical also showed promising enhancement of oxacillin against several MRSA strains. 1 shows ∼30 % inhibition of ATPase activity in VraS and reduces vra gene auto-upregulation typical upon vancomycin exposure. Therefore, 1 inhibits VraS to block normal vra operon function, leading to potent enhancement of cell wall-directed antibiotics. Interestingly, a molecular modeling approach suggests 1 does not displace ATP from the active site, but acts elsewhere. While VraS inhibitors have previously been reported to function against MRSA, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first direct VraS inhibitor ever reported that shows significant enhancement of vancomycin against VISA.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsMicrobial Sensitivity TestsUreaVancomycinBenzoxazolesDose-Response Relationship, DrugMethicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureusMolecular StructureProtein KinasesStructure-Activity RelationshipVancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureusAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsBenzoxazolesProtein KinasesUreaVancomycinVraS protein, Staphylococcus aureusAntimicrobial enhancementOxacillinResistanceStaphylococcus aureusVancomycinVraS

Identifiers

PMID39880176
PMCPMC13692951

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.