Anti-Corrosive Properties and Quantum Chemical Studies of (Benzoxazol) Derivatives on Mild Steel in HCl (1 M)

International audienceThis work is a contribution to the study about the inhibition of mild steel corrosion in a molar hydrochloric acid medium by some benzoxazol derivatives compounds. The study was carried out using gravimetric and electrochemical methods (stationary and transient). We have considered the influence of the inhibitor concentration, the temperature of the medium and the duration of the immersion of the metal sample in the aggressive medium. These studies are complemented with theoretical calculations aimed to correlate the results obtained from experimental measurements using the DFT method. The results obtained in this work through gravimetric and both transient and stationary electrochemical methods showed a satisfied coherence. Theoretical calculations also revealed a good correlation with the experimental results for our compounds

Inhibiting Type VI Secretion System Activity with a Biomimetic Peptide Designed To Target the Baseplate Wedge Complex

International audienceHuman health is threatened by bacterial infections that are increasingly resistant to multiple drugs. A recently emerged strategy consists of disarming pathogenic bacteria by targeting and blocking their virulence factors. The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a widespread secretion nanomachine encoded and employed by pathogenic strains to establish their virulence process during host invasion. Given the conservation of T6SS in several human bacterial pathogens, the discovery of an effective broad-spectrum T6SS virulence blocker represents an attractive target for development of antivirulence therapies. Here, we identified and validated a protein-protein interaction interface, TssK-TssG, as a key factor in the assembly of the T6SS baseplate (BP) complex in the pathogen enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC). In silico and biochemical studies revealed that the determinants of the interface are broadly conserved among pathogenic species, suggesting a role for this interface as a target for T6SS inhibition. Based on the high-resolution structure of the TssKFGE wedge complex, we rationally designed a biomimetic cyclic peptide (BCP) that blocks the assembly of the EAEC BP complex and inhibits the function of T6SS in bacterial cultures. Our BCP is the first compound completely designed from prior structural knowledge with anti-T6SS activity that can be used as a model to target human pathogens