Moxifloxacin Derivatives with Potential Antibacterial Activity against Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)

Background: Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has already tormented humanity and the environment for a long time and is responsible for many difficult-to-treat infections. Unfortunately, there are limited therapeutic options, and MRSA isolates with complete resistance to vancomycin, the first-line drug for the treatment of MRSA infections, have already emerged in recent years. Moxifloxacin retained activity against mutant bacterial strains with various levels of fluoroquinolones resistance and had a lower potential to select for resistant mutants. Isatin is a versatile structure, and its derivatives are potent inhibitors of many enzymes and receptors. The fluoroquinolone- isatin derivatives demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant organisms. The structure-activity relationship elucidated that incorporation of 1,2,3-triazole moiety into the C-7 position of fluoroquinolone skeleton was favorable to the antibacterial activity. Accordingly, fluoroquinolone derivatives with isatin and 1,2,3-triazole fragments at the side chain on the C-7 position are promising candidates to fight against drug-resistant bacteria. Objective: To explore more active moxifloxacin derivatives to fight against MRSA and enrich the structure-activity relationships. Methods: The synthesized moxifloxacin derivatives 7a-i and 14a-f were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against a panel of MRSA strains by means of standard two-fold serial dilution method. Results: The majority of the synthesized moxifloxacin derivatives were active against most of the tested MRSA strains with MIC values in a range of 1 to 64 μg/mL. The mechanistic investigations revealed that topoisomerase IV was one of the targets for antibacterial activity. Conclusion: These derivatives are useful scaffolds for the development of novel topoisomerase IV inhibitors.