β-Lactam antibiotic targets and resistance mechanisms: from covalent inhibitors to substrates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montserrat Mora-Ochomogo ◽  
Christopher T. Lohans

Overview of β-lactam antibiotics and the proteins with which they covalently interact, focusing on penicillin-binding proteins and serine β-lactamases.

Nature ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 325 (6100) ◽  
pp. 179-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Nozaki ◽  
N. Katayama ◽  
H. Ono ◽  
S. Tsubotani ◽  
S. Harada ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 301 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
H F Chambers ◽  
M J Sachdeva ◽  
C J Hackbarth

Reduced affinity of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) for binding penicillin has been proposed as a mechanism of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance in staphylococci. Penicillin binding by PBPs of three penicillin-susceptible and two penicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus was studied in kinetic assays to determine rate constants, drug concentrations at which PBPs were bound and the relationship between concentrations that bound PBPs and concentrations that inhibited bacterial growth. PBPs 1 and 2 of the resistant strains exhibited slower acylation and more rapid deacylation than susceptible strains. In contrast PBP 4, a naturally low-affinity PBP, was modified such that it exhibited a lower rate of deacylation. The concentrations of penicillin at which modified PBPs were bound correlated with concentrations that inhibited growth of the resistant strains. Acquisition of penicillin resistance in these strains of S. aureus results, at least in part, from structural modifications affecting binding of multiple PBPs and appears to include recruitment of a non-essential PBP, PBP 4.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 1397-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fereshteh Fani ◽  
Philippe Leprohon ◽  
George G. Zhanel ◽  
Michel G. Bergeron ◽  
Marc Ouellette

ABSTRACTAlterations in penicillin-binding proteins, the target enzymes for β-lactam antibiotics, are recognized as primary penicillin resistance mechanisms inStreptococcus pneumoniae. Few studies have analyzed penicillin resistance at the genome scale, however, and we report the sequencing ofS. pneumoniaeR6 transformants generated while reconstructing the penicillin resistance phenotypes from three penicillin-resistant clinical isolates by serial genome transformation. The genome sequences of the three last-level transformants T2-18209, T5-1983, and T3-55938 revealed that 16.2 kb, 82.7kb, and 137.2 kb of their genomes had been replaced with 5, 20, and 37 recombinant sequence segments derived from their respective parental clinical isolates, documenting the extent of DNA transformation between strains. A role in penicillin resistance was confirmed for some of the mutations identified in the transformants. Several multiple recombination events were also found to have happened at single loci coding for penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) that increase resistance. Sequencing of the transformants with MICs for penicillin similar to those of the parent clinical strains confirmed the importance of mosaic PBP2x, -2b, and -1a as a driving force in penicillin resistance. A role in resistance for mosaic PBP2a was also observed for two of the resistant clinical isolates.


2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1055-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Ayala ◽  
Alberto Quesada ◽  
Santiago Vadillo ◽  
Jerónimo Criado ◽  
Segundo Píriz

In this study penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of Bacteroides fragilis and the resistance mechanisms of this micro-organism to 11 β-lactam antibiotics were analysed. The study focused on the role of PBP2Bfr and metallo-β-lactamase in the mechanism of resistance to imipenem. The mechanism of β-lactam resistance in B. fragilis was strain dependent. The gene encoding the orthologue of Escherichia coli PBP3 gene (pbpBBfr, which encodes the protein PBP2Bfr) was sequenced in five of the eight strains studied, along with the ccrA (cfiA) gene in strain 119, and their implications for resistance were examined. Differences were found in the amino-acid sequence of PBP2Bfr in strains AK-2 and 119, and the production of β-lactamases indicated that these differences may be involved in the mechanism of resistance to imipenem. In vitro binding competition assays with membrane extracts using imipenem indicated that the PBP that bound imipenem with the highest affinity was PBP2Bfr, and that increased affinity in strain 7160 may be responsible for the moderate susceptibility of this strain to imipenem. In the same way, the importance of the chromosomal class A β-lactamase CepA in the resistance mechanism of the B. fragilis strains NCTC 9344, 7160, 2013E, AK-4, 0423 and R-212 was studied. In these strains this is the principal resistance mechanism to antimicrobial agents studied other than imipenem.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malligarjunan Rajavel ◽  
Vijay Kumar ◽  
Ha Nguyen ◽  
Jacob Wyatt ◽  
Steven H. Marshall ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens pose a significant public health threat. A major mechanism of resistance expressed by MDR pathogens is β-lactamase-mediated degradation of β-lactam antibiotics. The diazabicyclooctane (DBO) compounds zidebactam and WCK 5153, recognized as β-lactam “enhancers” due to inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2), are also class A and C β-lactamase inhibitors. To structurally probe their mode of PBP2 inhibition as well as investigate why P. aeruginosa PBP2 is less susceptible to inhibition by β-lactam antibiotics compared to the Escherichia coli PBP2, we determined the crystal structure of P. aeruginosa PBP2 in complex with WCK 5153. WCK 5153 forms an inhibitory covalent bond with the catalytic S327 of PBP2. The structure suggests a significant role for the diacylhydrazide moiety of WCK 5153 in interacting with the aspartate in the S-X-N/D PBP motif. Modeling of zidebactam in the active site of PBP2 reveals a similar binding mode. Both DBOs increase the melting temperature of PBP2, affirming their stabilizing interactions. To aid in the design of DBOs that can inhibit multiple PBPs, the ability of three DBOs to interact with P. aeruginosa PBP3 was explored crystallographically. Even though the DBOs show covalent binding to PBP3, they destabilized PBP3. Overall, the studies provide insights into zidebactam and WCK 5153 inhibition of PBP2 compared to their inhibition of PBP3 and the evolutionarily related KPC-2 β-lactamase. These molecular insights into the dual-target DBOs advance our knowledge regarding further DBO optimization efforts to develop novel potent β-lactamase-resistant, non-β-lactam PBP inhibitors. IMPORTANCE Antibiotic resistance is a significant clinical problem. Developing novel antibiotics that overcome known resistance mechanisms is highly desired. Diazabicyclooctane inhibitors such as zidebactam possess this potential as they readily inactivate penicillin-binding proteins, yet cannot be degraded by β-lactamases. In this study, we characterized the inhibition by diazabicyclooctanes of penicillin-binding proteins PBP2 and PBP3 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa using protein crystallography and biophysical analyses. These structures and analyses help define the antibiotic properties of these inhibitors, explain the decreased susceptibility of P. aeruginosa PBP2 to be inhibited by β-lactam antibiotics, and provide insights that could be used for further antibiotic development.


Author(s):  
R. H. Liss

Piperacillip (PIP) is b-[D(-)-α-(4-ethy1-2,3-dioxo-l-piperzinylcar-bonylamino)-α-phenylacetamido]-penicillanate. The broad spectrum semisynthetic β-lactam antibiotic is believed to effect bactericidal activity through its affinity for penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), enzymes on the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane that control elongation and septation during cell growth and division. The purpose of this study was to correlate penetration and binding of 14C-PIP in bacterial cells with drug-induced lethal changes assessed by microscopic, microbiologic and biochemical methods.The bacteria used were clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Figure 1). Sensitivity to the drug was determined by serial tube dilution in Trypticase Soy Broth (BBL) at an inoculum of 104 organisms/ml; the minimum inhibitory concentration of piperacillin for both bacteria was 1 μg/ml. To assess drug binding to PBPs, the bacteria were incubated with 14C-PIP (5 μg/0.09 μCi/ml); controls, in drug-free medium.


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