How medically important antimicrobials bind to the 30S ribosomal subunit in a bacterial pathogen

Ribosomes translate the genetic code in mRNA to synthesize proteins in all living organisms. Decoding of mRNA occurs in the small subunit of the ribosome and is mediated by tRNA anticodons. Regions near the decoding center are a target for antibiotics, such as aminoglycosides and tetracyclines, where their presence results in errors in protein synthesis. More than two decades of high-resolution structural studies have shown how such medically important antimicrobials (MIAs) bind to the small subunit of the bacterial ribosome. Here, we comprehensively analyze these previously reported structures to help understand the variability with which MIAs bind to small subunits of bacterial ribosomes. We previously solved the hibernating 70S ribosome structure of the bacterial pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi (Bbu), the causative agent of Lyme disease, but there is no structure of any MIA bound to this ribosome reported. Our structural analysis makes it possible to use inexpensive computational methods to predict binding of these MIAs to the Bbu ribosomal 30S small subunit. For this, we used structural analogy, restrained energy minimization, and single-point binding free energy computations. We find the single-point binding free energy of the MIAs to be very sensitive to small conformational changes in the MIA and its environment. Incorporating this knowledge in structure-guided design could aid in development of narrow-spectrum MIAs targeting specific bacterial pathogens.