Interactions between active-site serine beta-lactamases and so-called beta-lactamase-stable antibiotics. Kinetic and molecular modelling studies

Tabtoxinine-β-lactam is a “stealth” β-lactam antibiotic that evades β-lactamase-mediated antibiotic resistance

Tabtoxinine-β-lactam (TβL) is a phytotoxin produced by plant pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas syringae.

Biochemical and structural characterization of the subclass B1 metallo-β-lactamase VIM-4

The metallo-β-lactamase VIM-4, mainly found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Acinetobacter baumannii, was produced in Escherichia coli and characterized by biochemical and X-ray techniques. A detailed kinetic study performed in the presence of Zn²+ at concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 100 μM showed that VIM-4 exhibits a kinetic profile similar to the profiles of VIM-2 and VIM-1. However, VIM-4 is more active than VIM-1 against benzylpenicillin, cephalothin, nitrocefin, and imipenem and is less active than VIM-2 against ampicillin and meropenem. The crystal structure of the dizinc form of VIM-4 was solved at 1.9 Å. The sole difference between VIM-4 and VIM-1 is found at residue 228, which is Ser in VIM-1 and Arg in VIM-4. This substitution has a major impact on the VIM-4 catalytic efficiency compared to that of VIM-1. In contrast, the differences between VIM-2 and VIM-4 seem to be due to a different position of the flapping loop and two substitutions in loop 2. Study of the thermal stability and the activity of the holo- and apo-VIM-4 enzymes revealed that Zn²+ ions have a pronounced stabilizing effect on the enzyme and are necessary for preserving the structure.

Dramatic broadening of the substrate profile of the Aeromonas hydrophila CphA metallo-beta-lactamase by site-directed mutagenesis

Among class B beta-lactamases, the subclass B2 CphA enzyme is characterized by a unique specificity profile. CphA efficiently hydrolyzes only carbapenems. In this work, we generated site-directed mutants that possess a strongly broadened activity spectrum when compared with the WT CphA. Strikingly, the N116H/N220G double mutant exhibits a substrate profile close to that observed for the broad spectrum subclass B1 enzymes. The double mutant is significantly activated by the binding of a second zinc ion under conditions where the WT enzyme is non-competitively inhibited by the same ion.

Kinetic study of two novel enantiomeric tricyclic beta-lactams which efficiently inactivate class C beta-lactamases

A detailed kinetic study of the interaction between two ethylidene derivatives of tricyclic carbapenems, Lek 156 and Lek 157, and representative beta-lactamases and D-alanyl-D-alanine peptidases (DD-peptidases) is presented. Both compounds are very efficient inactivators of the Enterobacter cloacae 908R beta-lactamase, which is usually resistant to inhibition. Preliminary experiments indicate that various extended-spectrum class C beta-lactamases (ACT-1, CMY-1, and MIR-1) are also inactivated. With the E. cloacae 908R enzyme, complete inactivation occurs with a second-order rate constant, k(2)/K', of 2 x 10(4) to 4 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), and reactivation is very slow, with a half-life of >1 h. Accordingly, Lek 157 significantly decreases the MIC of ampicillin for E. cloacae P99, a constitutive class C beta-lactamase overproducer. With the other serine beta-lactamases tested, the covalent adducts exhibit a wide range of stabilities, with half-lives ranging from long (>4 h with the TEM-1 class A enzyme), to medium (10 to 20 min with the OXA-10 class D enzyme), to short (0.2 to 0.4 s with the NmcA class A beta-lactamase). By contrast, both carbapenems behave as good substrates of the Bacillus cereus metallo-beta-lactamase (class B). The Streptomyces sp. strain R61 and K15 extracellular DD-peptidases exhibit low levels of sensitivity to both compounds.

Catalytic properties of class A beta-lactamases: efficiency and diversity

beta-Lactamases are the main cause of bacterial resistance to penicillins, cephalosporins and related beta-lactam compounds. These enzymes inactivate the antibiotics by hydrolysing the amide bond of the beta-lactam ring. Class A beta-lactamases are the most widespread enzymes and are responsible for numerous failures in the treatment of infectious diseases. The introduction of new beta-lactam compounds, which are meant to be 'beta-lactamase-stable' or beta-lactamase inhibitors, is thus continuously challenged either by point mutations in the ubiquitous TEM and SHV plasmid-borne beta-lactamase genes or by the acquisition of new genes coding for beta-lactamases with different catalytic properties. On the basis of the X-ray crystallography structures of several class A beta-lactamases, including that of the clinically relevant TEM-1 enzyme, it has become possible to analyse how particular structural changes in the enzyme structures might modify their catalytic properties. However, despite the many available kinetic, structural and mutagenesis data, the factors explaining the diversity of the specificity profiles of class A beta-lactamases and their amazing catalytic efficiency have not been thoroughly elucidated. The detailed understanding of these phenomena constitutes the cornerstone for the design of future generations of antibiotics.

A disulfide bridge near the active site of carbapenem-hydrolyzing class A beta-lactamases might explain their unusual substrate profile

Bacterial resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, a clinically worrying and recurrent problem, is often due to the production of beta-lactamases, enzymes that efficiently hydrolyze the amide bond of the beta-lactam nucleus. Imipenem and other carbapenems escape the activity of most active site serine beta-lactamases and have therefore become very popular drugs for antibacterial chemotherapy in the hospital environment. Their usefulness is, however, threatened by the appearance of new beta-lactamases that efficiently hydrolyze them. This study is focused on the structure and properties of two recently described class A carbapenemases, produced by Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter cloacae strains and leads to a better understanding of the specificity of beta-lactamases. In turn, this will contribute to the design of better antibacterial drugs. Three-dimensional models of the two class A carbapenemases were constructed by homology modeling. They suggested the presence, near the active site of the enzymes, of a disulfide bridge (C69-C238) whose existence was experimentally confirmed. Kinetic parameters were measured with the purified Sme-1 carbapenemase, and an attempt was made to explain its specific substrate profile by analyzing the structures of minimized Henri-Michaelis complexes and comparing them to those obtained for the "classical" TEM-1 beta-lactamase. The peculiar substrate profile of the carbapenemases appears to be strongly correlated with the presence of the disulfide bridge between C69 and C238.

Interactions of biapenem with active-site serine and metallo-beta-lactamases

Biapenem, formerly LJC 10,627 or L-627, a carbapenem antibiotic, was studied in its interactions with 12 beta-lactamases belonging to the four molecular classes proposed by R. P. Ambler (Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. Biol. Sci. 289:321-331, 1980). Kinetic parameters were determined. Biapenem was readily inactivated by metallo-beta-lactamases but behaved as a transient inhibitor of the active-site serine enzymes tested, although with different acylation efficiency values. Class A and class D beta-lactamases were unable to confer in vitro resistance toward this carbapenem antibiotic. Surprisingly, the same situation was found in the case of class B enzymes from Aeromonas hydrophila AE036 and Bacillus cereus 5/B/6 when expressed in Escherichia coli strains.

Contribution of mutant analysis to the understanding of enzyme catalysis: the case of class A beta-lactamases

Class A beta-lactamases represent a family of well studied enzymes. They are responsible for many antibiotic resistance phenomena and thus for numerous failures in clinical chemotherapy. Despite the facts that five structures are known at high resolution and that detailed analyses of enzymes modified by site-directed mutagenesis have been performed, their exact catalytic mechanism remains controversial. This review attempts to summarize and to discuss the many available data.