Cryptic β-Lactamase Evolution Is Driven by Low β-Lactam Concentrations

β-lactamase expression induces collateral sensitivity in Escherichia coli

Major antibiotic groups are losing effectiveness due to the uncontrollable spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. Among these, β-lactam resistance genes -encoding β-lactamases- stand as the most common resistance mechanism in Enterobacterales due to their frequent association with mobile genetic elements. In this context, novel approaches that counter mobile AMR are urgently needed. Collateral sensitivity (CS) occurs when the acquisition of resistance to one antibiotic increases susceptibility to another antibiotic and can be exploited to eliminate AMR selectively. However, most CS networks described so far emerge as a consequence of chromosomal mutations and cannot be leveraged to tackle mobile AMR. Here, we dissect the CS response elicited by the acquisition of a prevalent antibiotic resistance plasmid to reveal that the expression of the β-lactamase gene blaOXA-48 induces CS to colistin and azithromycin. We next show that other clinically relevant mobile β-lactamases produce similar CS responses in multiple, phylogenetically unrelated E. coli strains. Finally, by combining experiments with surveillance data comprising thousands of antibiotic susceptibility tests, we show that β-lactamase-induced CS is pervasive within Enterobacterales. These results highlight that the physiological side-effects of β-lactamases can be leveraged therapeutically, paving the way for the rational design of specific therapies to block mobile AMR or at least counteract their effects.

Evolutionary rewiring of the dynamic network underpinning allosteric epistasis in NS1 of influenza A virus

Viral proteins frequently mutate to evade or antagonize host innate immune responses, yet the impact of these mutations on the molecular energy landscape remains unclear. Epistasis, the intramolecular communications between mutations, often renders the combined mutational effects unpredictable. Nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) is a major virulence factor of the influenza A virus (IAV) that activates host PI3K by binding to its p85β subunit. Here, we present the deep analysis for the impact of evolutionary mutations in NS1 that emerged between the 1918 pandemic IAV strain and its descendant PR8 strain. Our analysis reveal how the mutations rewired inter-residue communications which underlies long-range allosteric and epistatic networks in NS1. Our findings show that PR8 NS1 binds to p85β with approximately 10-fold greater affinity than 1918 NS1 due to allosteric mutational effects. Notably, these mutations also exhibited long-range epistatic effects. NMR chemical shift perturbation and methyl-axis order parameter analyses revealed that the mutations induced long-range structural and dynamic changes in PR8 NS1, enhancing its affinity to p85β. Complementary MD simulations and graph-based network analysis uncover how these mutations rewire dynamic residue interaction networks, which underlies the long-range epistasis and allosteric effects on p85β-binding affinity. Significantly, we find that conformational dynamics of residues with high betweenness centrality play a crucial role in communications between network communities and are highly conserved across influenza A virus evolution. These findings advance our mechanistic understanding of the allosteric and epistatic communications between distant residues and provides insight into their role in the molecular evolution of NS1.

Epistasis arises from shifting the rate-limiting step during enzyme evolution of a β-lactamase

Epistasis, the non-additive effect of mutations, can provide combinatorial improvements to enzyme activity that substantially exceed the gains from individual mutations. Yet the molecular mechanisms of epistasis remain elusive, undermining our ability to predict pathogen evolution and engineer biocatalysts. Here we reveal how directed evolution of a β-lactamase yielded highly epistatic activity enhancements. Evolution selected four mutations that increase antibiotic resistance 40-fold, despite their marginal individual effects (≤2-fold). Synergistic improvements coincided with the introduction of super-stochiometric burst kinetics, indicating that epistasis is rooted in the enzyme's conformational dynamics. Our analysis reveals that epistasis stemmed from distinct effects of each mutation on the catalytic cycle. The initial mutation increased protein flexibility and accelerated substrate binding, which is rate-limiting in the wild-type enzyme. Subsequent mutations predominantly boosted the chemical steps by fine-tuning substrate interactions. Our work identifies an overlooked cause for epistasis: changing the rate-limiting step can result in substantial synergy that boosts enzyme activity.

Loop dynamics and the evolution of enzyme activity

In the early 2000s, Tawfik presented his 'New View' on enzyme evolution, highlighting the role of conformational plasticity in expanding the functional diversity of limited repertoires of sequences. This view is gaining increasing traction with increasing evidence of the importance of conformational dynamics in both natural and laboratory evolution of enzymes. The past years have seen several elegant examples of harnessing conformational (particularly loop) dynamics to successfully manipulate protein function. This Review revisits flexible loops as critical participants in regulating enzyme activity. We showcase several systems of particular interest: triosephosphate isomerase barrel proteins, protein tyrosine phosphatases and β-lactamases, while briefly discussing other systems in which loop dynamics are important for selectivity and turnover. We then discuss the implications for engineering, presenting examples of successful loop manipulation in either improving catalytic efficiency, or changing selectivity completely. Overall, it is becoming clearer that mimicking nature by manipulating the conformational dynamics of key protein loops is a powerful method of tailoring enzyme activity, without needing to target active-site residues.

The Fitness of Beta-Lactamase Mutants Depends Nonlinearly on Resistance Level at Sublethal Antibiotic Concentrations

Adaptive evolutionary processes are constrained by the availability of mutations which cause a fitness benefit and together make up the fitness landscape, which maps genotype space onto fitness under specified conditions. Experimentally derived fitness landscapes have demonstrated a predictability to evolution by identifying limited "mutational routes" that evolution by natural selection may take between low and high-fitness genotypes. However, such studies often utilize indirect measures to determine fitness. We estimated the competitive fitness of mutants relative to all single-mutation neighbors to describe the fitness landscape of three mutations in a β-lactamase enzyme. Fitness assays were performed at sublethal concentrations of the antibiotic cefotaxime in a structured and unstructured environment. In the unstructured environment, the antibiotic selected for higher-resistance types-but with an equivalent fitness for a subset of mutants, despite substantial variation in resistance-resulting in a stratified fitness landscape. In contrast, in a structured environment with a low antibiotic concentration, antibiotic-susceptible genotypes had a relative fitness advantage, which was associated with antibiotic-induced filamentation. These results cast doubt that highly resistant genotypes have a unique selective advantage in environments with subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics and demonstrate that direct fitness measures are required for meaningful predictions of the accessibility of evolutionary routes. IMPORTANCE The evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacterial populations underpins the ongoing antibiotic resistance crisis. We aim to understand how antibiotic-degrading enzymes can evolve to cause increased resistance, how this process is constrained, and whether it can be predictable. To this end, competition experiments were performed with a combinatorially complete set of mutants of a β-lactamase gene subject to subinhibitory concentrations of the antibiotic cefotaxime. While some mutations confer on their hosts high resistance to cefotaxime, in competition these mutations do not always confer a selective advantage. Specifically, high-resistance mutants had equivalent fitnesses despite different resistance levels and even had selective disadvantages under conditions involving spatial structure. Together, our findings suggest that the relationship between resistance level and fitness at subinhibitory concentrations is complex; predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance requires knowledge of the conditions that select for resistant genotypes and the selective advantage evolved types have over their predecessors.

Preferred β-lactone synthesis can explain high rate of false-negative results in the detection of OXA-48-like carbapenemases

The resistance to carbapenems is usually mediated by enzymes hydrolyzing β-lactam ring. Recently, an alternative way of the modification of the antibiotic, a β-lactone formation by OXA-48-like enzymes, in some carbapenems was identified. We focused our study on a deep analysis of OXA-48-like-producing Enterobacterales, especially strains showing poor hydrolytic activity. In this study, well characterized 74 isolates of Enterobacterales resistant to carbapenems were used. Carbapenemase activity was determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS), Carba-NP test and modified Carbapenem Inactivation Method (mCIM). As meropenem-derived β-lactone possesses the same molecular weight as native meropenem (MW 383.46 g/mol), β-lactonization cannot be directly detected by MALDI-TOF MS. In the spectra, however, the peaks of m/z = 340.5 and 362.5 representing decarboxylated β-lactone and its sodium adduct were detected in 25 out of 35 OXA-48-like producers. In the rest 10 isolates, decarboxylated hydrolytic product (m/z = 358.5) and its sodium adduct (m/z = 380.5) have been detected. The peak of m/z = 362.5 was detected in 3 strains co-producing OXA-48-like and NDM-1 carbapenemases. The respective signal was identified in no strain producing class A or class B carbapenemase alone showing its specificity for OXA-48-like carbapenemases. Using LC-MS, we were able to identify meropenem-derived β-lactone directly according to the different retention time. All strains with a predominant β-lactone production showed negative results of Carba NP test. In this study, we have demonstrated that the strains producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases showing false-negative results using Carba NP test and MALDI-TOF MS preferentially produced meropenem-derived β-lactone. We also identified β-lactone-specific peak in MALDI-TOF MS spectra and demonstrated the ability of LC-MS to detect meropenem-derived β-lactone.

Within-patient evolution of plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria is a major threat to public health; one of the key elements in the spread and evolution of AMR in clinical pathogens is the transfer of conjugative plasmids. The drivers of AMR evolution have been studied extensively in vitro but the evolution of plasmid-mediated AMR in vivo remains poorly explored. Here, we tracked the evolution of the clinically relevant plasmid pOXA-48, which confers resistance to the last-resort antibiotics carbapenems, in a large collection of enterobacterial clones isolated from the gut of hospitalized patients. Combining genomic and experimental approaches, we first characterized plasmid diversity and the genotypic and phenotypic effects of multiple plasmid mutations on a common genetic background. Second, using cutting-edge genomic editing in wild-type multidrug-resistant enterobacteria, we dissected three cases of within-patient plasmid-mediated AMR evolution. Our results revealed compensatory evolution of plasmid-associated fitness cost and the evolution of enhanced plasmid-mediated AMR in bacteria evolving in the gut of hospitalized patients. Crucially, we observed that the evolution of pOXA-48-mediated AMR in vivo involves a pivotal trade-off between resistance levels and bacterial fitness. This study highlights the need to develop new evolution-informed approaches to tackle plasmid-mediated AMR dissemination.

Evolution of β-lactamase-mediated cefiderocol resistance

BACKGROUND

Cefiderocol is a novel siderophore β-lactam with improved hydrolytic stability toward β-lactamases, including carbapenemases, achieved by combining structural moieties of two clinically efficient cephalosporins, ceftazidime and cefepime. Consequently, cefiderocol represents a treatment alternative for infections caused by MDR Gram-negatives.

OBJECTIVES

To study the role of cefiderocol on resistance development and on the evolution of β-lactamases from all Ambler classes, including KPC-2, CTX-M-15, NDM-1, CMY-2 and OXA-48.

METHODS

Directed evolution, using error-prone PCR followed by selective plating, was utilized to investigate how the production and the evolution of different β-lactamases cause changes in cefiderocol susceptibility determined using microbroth dilution assays (MIC and IC50).

RESULTS

We found that the expression of blaOXA-48 did not affect cefiderocol susceptibility. On the contrary, the expression of blaKPC-2, blaCMY-2, blaCTX-M-15 and blaNDM-1 substantially reduced cefiderocol susceptibility by 4-, 16-, 8- and 32-fold, respectively. Further, directed evolution on these enzymes showed that, with the acquisition of only 1-2 non-synonymous mutations, all β-lactamases were evolvable to further cefiderocol resistance by 2- (NDM-1, CTX-M-15), 4- (CMY-2), 8- (OXA-48) and 16-fold (KPC-2). Cefiderocol resistance development was often associated with collateral susceptibility changes including increased resistance to ceftazidime and ceftazidime/avibactam as well as functional trade-offs against different β-lactam drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of contemporary β-lactamase genes can potentially contribute to cefiderocol resistance development and the acquisition of mutations in these genes results in enzymes adapting to increasing cefiderocol concentrations. Resistance development caused clinically important cross-resistance, especially against ceftazidime and ceftazidime/avibactam.

Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant CTX-M Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli From Different Bovine Faeces in China

CTX-M extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli cause severe health hazards in livestock breeding. To date, little is known about antibiotic resistance differences among bacterial isolates from yaks, cows, and beef cattle; therefore, the aims of this study were to analyse the prevalence of CTX-M-producing E. coli in yak, beef cattle, and dairy cattle feces from different provinces in China. A total of 790 fecal samples from yaks, beef cattle, and dairy cows were used. Among all the samples, 523 non duplicate E. coli isolates were identified, and 29.6% of samples harbored CTX-M producers. The results showed that these E. coli strains harbored 15 clusters of CTX-M genes: CTX-M-79, CTX-M-55, CTX-M-15, CTX-M-14, CTX-M-28, CTX-M-179, CTX-M-65, CTX-M-24, CTX-M-27, CTX-M-102, CTX-M-105, CTX-M-173, CTX-M-238, CTX-M-196, and CTX-M-10. The dominant resistance genes were CTX-M-15, CTX-M-14, and CTX-M-55. Moreover, the distribution of CTX-M genes was related to geographical region. Based on the above findings, we reasoned that bovines are potential reservoirs of antibiotic resistance, and this problem should be given adequate attention.

Recent Developments to Cope the Antibacterial Resistance via β-Lactamase Inhibition

Antibacterial resistance towards the β-lactam (BL) drugs is now ubiquitous, and there is a major global health concern associated with the emergence of new β-lactamases (BLAs) as the primary cause of resistance. In addition to the development of new antibacterial drugs, β-lactamase inhibition is an alternative modality that can be implemented to tackle this resistance channel. This strategy has successfully revitalized the efficacy of a number of otherwise obsolete BLs since the discovery of the first β-lactamase inhibitor (BLI), clavulanic acid. Over the years, β-lactamase inhibition research has grown, leading to the introduction of new synthetic inhibitors, and a few are currently in clinical trials. Of note, the 1, 6-diazabicyclo [3,2,1]octan-7-one (DBO) scaffold gained the attention of researchers around the world, which finally culminated in the approval of two BLIs, avibactam and relebactam, which can successfully inhibit Ambler class A, C, and D β-lactamases. Boronic acids have shown promise in coping with Ambler class B β-lactamases in recent research, in addition to classes A, C, and D with the clinical use of vaborbactam. This review focuses on the further developments in the synthetic strategies using DBO as well as boronic acid derivatives. In addition, various other potential serine- and metallo- β-lactamases inhibitors that have been developed in last few years are discussed briefly as well. Furthermore, binding interactions of the representative inhibitors have been discussed based on the crystal structure data of inhibitor-enzyme complex, published in the literature.

Environmental selection and epistasis in an empirical phenotype-environment-fitness landscape

Fitness landscapes, mappings of genotype/phenotype to their effects on fitness, are invaluable concepts in evolutionary biochemistry. Although widely discussed, measurements of phenotype-fitness landscapes in proteins remain scarce. Here, we quantify all single mutational effects on fitness and phenotype (EC₅₀) of VIM-2 β-lactamase across a 64-fold range of ampicillin concentrations. We then construct a phenotype-fitness landscape that takes variations in environmental selection pressure into account. We found that a simple, empirical landscape accurately models the ~39,000 mutational data points, suggesting that the evolution of VIM-2 can be predicted on the basis of the selection environment. Our landscape provides new quantitative knowledge on the evolution of the β-lactamases and proteins in general, particularly their evolutionary dynamics under subinhibitory antibiotic concentrations, as well as the mechanisms and environmental dependence of non-specific epistasis.

The Role of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Fitness Cost of Multiresistance Plasmids

By providing the bacterial cell with protection against several antibiotics at once, multiresistance plasmids have an evolutionary advantage in situations where antibiotic treatments are common, such as in hospital environments. However, resistance plasmids can also impose fitness costs on the bacterium in the absence of antibiotics, something that may limit their evolutionary success. The underlying mechanisms and the possible contribution of resistance genes to such costs are still largely not understood. Here, we have specifically investigated the contribution of plasmid-borne resistance genes to the reduced fitness of the bacterial cell. The pUUH239.2 plasmid carries 13 genes linked to antibiotic resistance and reduces bacterial fitness by 2.9% per generation. This cost is fully ameliorated by the removal of the resistance cassette. While most of the plasmid-borne resistance genes individually were cost-free, even when overexpressed, two specific gene clusters were responsible for the entire cost of the plasmid: the extended-spectrum-β-lactamase gene bla_CTX-M-15 and the tetracycline resistance determinants tetAR. The bla_CTX-M-15 cost was linked to the signal peptide that exports the β-lactamase into the periplasm, and replacement with an alternative signal peptide abolished the cost. Both the tetracycline pump TetA and its repressor TetR conferred a cost on the host cell, and the reciprocal expression of these genes is likely fine-tuned to balance the respective costs. These findings highlight that the cost of clinical multiresistance plasmids can be largely due to particular resistance genes and their interaction with other cellular systems, while other resistance genes and the plasmid backbone can be cost-free. IMPORTANCE Multiresistance plasmids are one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance development and spread. Their evolutionary success through the accumulation and mobilization of resistance genes is central to resistance evolution. In this study, we find that the cost of the introduction of a multiresistance plasmid was completely attributable to resistance genes, while the rest of the plasmid backbone is cost-free. The majority of resistance genes on the plasmid had no appreciable cost to the host cell even when overexpressed, indicating that plasmid-borne resistance can be cost-free. In contrast, the widespread genes bla_CTX-M-15 and tetAR were found to confer the whole cost of the plasmid by affecting specific cellular functions. These findings highlight how the evolution of resistance on plasmids is dependent on the amelioration of associated fitness costs and point at a conundrum regarding the high cost of some of the most widespread β-lactamase genes.

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

The β-lactams are the most widely used antibacterial agents worldwide. These antibiotics, a group that includes the penicillins and cephalosporins, are covalent inhibitors that target bacterial penicillin-binding proteins and disrupt peptidoglycan synthesis. Bacteria can achieve resistance to β-lactams in several ways, including the production of serine β-lactamase enzymes. While β-lactams also covalently interact with serine β-lactamases, these enzymes are capable of deacylating this complex, treating the antibiotic as a substrate. In this tutorial-style review, we provide an overview of the β-lactam antibiotics, focusing on their covalent interactions with their target proteins and resistance mechanisms. We begin by describing the structurally diverse range of β-lactam antibiotics and β-lactamase inhibitors that are currently used as therapeutics. Then, we introduce the penicillin-binding proteins, describing their functions and structures, and highlighting their interactions with β-lactam antibiotics. We next describe the classes of serine β-lactamases, exploring some of the mechanisms by which they achieve the ability to degrade β-lactams. Finally, we introduce the l,d-transpeptidases, a group of bacterial enzymes involved in peptidoglycan synthesis which are also targeted by β-lactam antibiotics. Although resistance mechanisms are now prevalent for all antibiotics in this class, past successes in antibiotic development have at least delayed this onset of resistance. The β-lactams continue to be an essential tool for the treatment of infectious disease, and recent advances (e.g., β-lactamase inhibitor development) will continue to support their future use.

Maximum levels of cross-contamination for 24 antimicrobial active substances in non-target feed. Part 4: β-Lactams: amoxicillin and penicillin V

The specific concentrations of amoxicillin and penicillin V in non-target feed for food-producing animals, below which there would not be an effect on the emergence of, and/or selection for, resistance in bacteria relevant for human and animal health, as well as the specific antimicrobial concentrations in feed which have an effect in terms of growth promotion/increased yield were assessed by EFSA in collaboration with EMA. Details of the methodology used for this assessment, associated data gaps and uncertainties, are presented in a separate document. To address antimicrobial resistance, the Feed Antimicrobial Resistance Selection Concentration (FARSC) model developed specifically for the assessment was applied. However, due to the lack of data on the parameters required to calculate the FARSC, it was not possible to conclude the assessment until further experimental data become available. To address growth promotion, data from scientific publications obtained from an extensive literature review were used. Levels in feed that showed to have an effect on growth promotion/increased yield were reported for amoxicillin, whilst for penicillin V no suitable data for the assessment were available. It was recommended to carry out studies to generate the data that are required to fill the gaps which prevented the calculation of the FARSC for these two antimicrobials.

Biochemical and biophysical characterization of the OXA-48-like carbapenemase OXA-436

The crystal structure of the class D β-lactamase OXA-436 was solved to a resolution of 1.80 Å. Higher catalytic rates were found at higher temperatures for the clinically important antibiotic imipenem, indicating better adaptation of OXA-436 to its mesophilic host than OXA-48, which is believed to originate from an environmental source. Furthermore, based on the most populated conformations during 100 ns molecular-dynamics simulations, it is postulated that the modulation of activity involves conformational shifts of the α3-α4 and β5-β6 loops. While these changes overall do not cause clinically significant shifts in the resistance profile, they show that antibiotic-resistance enzymes exist in a continuum. It is believed that these seemingly neutral differences in the sequence exist on a path leading to significant changes in substrate selectivity.

Evolution of β-lactamases and enzyme promiscuity

β-Lactamases represent one of the most prevalent resistance mechanisms against β-lactam antibiotics. Beyond their clinical importance, they have also become key models in enzymology and evolutionary biochemistry. A global understanding of their evolution and sequence and functional diversity can therefore aid a wide set of different disciplines. Interestingly, β-lactamases have evolved multiple times from distinct evolutionary origins, with ancestries that reach back billions of years. It is therefore no surprise that these enzymes exhibit diverse structural features and enzymatic mechanisms. In this review, we provide a bird's eye view on the evolution of β-lactamases within the two enzyme superfamilies-i.e. the penicillin-binding protein-like and metallo-β-lactamase superfamily-through phylogenetics. We further discuss potential evolutionary origins of each β-lactamase class by highlighting signs of evolutionary connections in protein functions between β-lactamases and other enzymes, especially cases of enzyme promiscuity.