Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are important contributors of Gram-negative bacteria resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. MBLs are highly worrying because of their carbapenemase activity, their rapid spread in major human opportunistic pathogens while no clinically useful inhibitor is available yet. In this context, we are exploring the potential of compounds based on the 1,2,4-triazole-3-thione scaffold as an original ligand of the di-zinc active sites of MBLs, and diversely substituted at its positions 4 and 5. Here, we present a new series of compounds substituted at the 4-position by a thioether-containing alkyl chain with a carboxylic and/or an aryl group at its extremity. Several compounds showed broad-spectrum inhibition with K_i values in the μM to sub-μM range against VIM-type enzymes, NDM-1 and IMP-1. The presence of the sulfur and of the aryl group was important for the inhibitory activity and the binding mode of a few compounds in VIM-2 was revealed by X-ray crystallography. Importantly, in vitro antibacterial susceptibility assays showed that several inhibitors were able to potentiate the activity of meropenem on Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates producing VIM-1 or VIM-4, with a potentiation effect of up to 16-fold. Finally, a selected compound was found to only moderately inhibit the di-zinc human glyoxalase II, and several showed no or only moderate toxicity toward several human cells, thus favourably completing a promising behaviour.

金属-β-内酰胺酶（MBLs）是革兰氏阴性菌对β-内酰胺类抗生素耐药的重要因素。MBLs 非常令人担忧，因为它们具有碳青霉烯酶活性，它们在主要的人类机会性病原体中迅速传播，而目前还没有临床上有用的抑制剂。在此背景下，我们正在探索基于 1,2,4-triazole-3-thione 支架的化合物作为 MBL 的二锌活性位点的原始配体的潜力，并在其位置 4 和 5 处进行多种取代。在这里，我们提出了一系列在 4 位被含硫醚的烷基链取代的新化合物，该烷基链在其末端具有羧基和/或芳基。几种化合物对K _i显示出广谱抑制作用针对 VIM 型酶、NDM-1 和 IMP-1 的 μM 到亚 μM 范围内的值。硫和芳基的存在对于抑制活性很重要，并且通过 X 射线晶体学揭示了 VIM-2 中一些化合物的结合模式。重要的是，体外抗菌药敏试验表明，几种抑制剂能够增强美罗培南对产生 VIM-1 或 VIM-4 的肺炎克雷伯菌临床分离株的活性，增强效果高达 16 倍。最后，发现一种选定的化合物仅中度抑制二锌人乙二醛酶 II，其中一些化合物对几种人体细胞没有或只有中度毒性，从而有利地完成了有希望的行为。