# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 230 | 0 | 1.0000 | Two methionine aminopeptidases from Acinetobacter baumannii are functional enzymes. Drug resistance in gram-negative bacteria, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, is emerging as a significant healthcare problem. New antibiotics with a novel mechanism of action are urgently needed to overcome the drug resistance. Methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) carries out an essential cotranslational methionine excision in many bacteria and is a potential target to develop such novel antibiotics. Two putative MetAP genes were identified in A. baumannii genome, but whether they actually function as MetAP enzymes was not known. Therefore, we established an efficient E. coli expression system for their production as soluble and metal-free proteins for biochemical characterization. We demonstrated that both could carry out the metal-dependent catalysis and could be activated by divalent metal ions with the order Fe(II) ≈ Ni(II) > Co(II) > Mn(II) for both. By using a set of metalloform-selective inhibitors discovered on other MetAP enzymes, potency and metalloform selectivity on the A. baumannii MetAP proteins were observed. The similarity of their catalysis and inhibition to other MetAP enzymes confirmed that both may function as competent MetAP enzymes in A. baumannii and either or both may serve as the potential drug target. | 2011 | 21524572 |
| 6316 | 1 | 0.9995 | A novel type of colistin resistance genes selected from random sequence space. Antibiotic resistance is a rapidly increasing medical problem that severely limits the success of antibiotic treatments, and the identification of resistance determinants is key for surveillance and control of resistance dissemination. Horizontal transfer is the dominant mechanism for spread of resistance genes between bacteria but little is known about the original emergence of resistance genes. Here, we examined experimentally if random sequences can generate novel antibiotic resistance determinants de novo. By utilizing highly diverse expression libraries encoding random sequences to select for open reading frames that confer resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin in Escherichia coli, six de novo colistin resistance conferring peptides (Dcr) were identified. The peptides act via direct interactions with the sensor kinase PmrB (also termed BasS in E. coli), causing an activation of the PmrAB two-component system (TCS), modification of the lipid A domain of lipopolysaccharide and subsequent colistin resistance. This kinase-activation was extended to other TCS by generation of chimeric sensor kinases. Our results demonstrate that peptides with novel activities mediated via specific peptide-protein interactions in the transmembrane domain of a sensory transducer can be selected de novo, suggesting that the origination of such peptides from non-coding regions is conceivable. In addition, we identified a novel class of resistance determinants for a key antibiotic that is used as a last resort treatment for several significant pathogens. The high-level resistance provided at low expression levels, absence of significant growth defects and the functionality of Dcr peptides across different genera suggest that this class of peptides could potentially evolve as bona fide resistance determinants in natura. | 2021 | 33411736 |
| 4439 | 2 | 0.9994 | beta-lactam resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae: penicillin-binding proteins and non-penicillin-binding proteins. The beta-lactams are by far the most widely used and efficacious of all antibiotics. Over the past few decades, however, widespread resistance has evolved among most common pathogens. Streptococcus pneumoniae has become a paradigm for understanding the evolution of resistance mechanisms, the simplest of which, by far, is the production of beta-lactamases. As these enzymes are frequently plasmid encoded, resistance can readily be transmitted between bacteria. Despite the fact that pneumococci are naturally transformable organisms, no beta-lactamase-producing strain has yet been described. A much more complex resistance mechanism has evolved in S. pneumoniae that is mediated by a sophisticated restructuring of the targets of the beta-lactams, the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs); however, this may not be the whole story. Recently, a third level of resistance mechanisms has been identified in laboratory mutants, wherein non-PBP genes are mutated and resistance development is accompanied by deficiency in genetic transformation. Two such non-PBP genes have been described: a putative glycosyltransferase, CpoA, and a histidine protein kinase, CiaH. We propose that these non-PBP genes are involved in the biosynthesis of cell wall components at a step prior to the biosynthetic functions of PBPs, and that the mutations selected during beta-lactam treatment counteract the effects caused by the inhibition of penicillin-binding proteins. | 1999 | 10447877 |
| 9778 | 3 | 0.9994 | Antibiotic class with potent in vivo activity targeting lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we describe the identification of an antibiotic class acting via LpxH, a clinically unexploited target in lipopolysaccharide synthesis. The lipopolysaccharide synthesis pathway is essential in most Gram-negative bacteria and there is no analogous pathway in humans. Based on a series of phenotypic screens, we identified a hit targeting this pathway that had activity on efflux-defective strains of Escherichia coli. We recognized common structural elements between this hit and a previously published inhibitor, also with activity against efflux-deficient bacteria. With the help of X-ray structures, this information was used to design inhibitors with activity on efflux-proficient, wild-type strains. Optimization of properties such as solubility, metabolic stability and serum protein binding resulted in compounds having potent in vivo efficacy against bloodstream infections caused by the critical Gram-negative pathogens E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Other favorable properties of the series include a lack of pre-existing resistance in clinical isolates, and no loss of activity against strains expressing extended-spectrum-β-lactamase, metallo-β-lactamase, or carbapenemase-resistance genes. Further development of this class of antibiotics could make an important contribution to the ongoing struggle against antibiotic resistance. | 2024 | 38579010 |
| 4444 | 4 | 0.9994 | Mechanisms of resistance to fluoroquinolones. Fluoroquinolones have some of the properties of an 'ideal' anti-microbial agent. Because of their potent broad spectrum activity and absence of transferable mechanism of resistance or inactivating enzymes, it was hoped that clinical resistance to this useful group of drugs would not occur. However, over the years, due to intense selective pressure and relative lack of potency of the available quinolones against some strains, bacteria have evolved at least two mechanisms of resistance: (i) alteration of molecular targets, and (ii) reduction of drug accumulation. DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV are the two molecular targets of fluoroquinolones. Mutations in specified regions (quinolone resistance-determining region) in genes coding for the gyrase and/or topoisomerase leads to clinical resistance. An efflux pump effective in pumping out hydrophilic quinolones has been described. Newer fluoroquinolones which recognize both molecular targets and have improved pharmacokinetic properties offer hope of higher potency, thereby reducing the probability of development of resistance. | 1999 | 10573971 |
| 4443 | 5 | 0.9994 | Cellular Studies of an Aminoglycoside Potentiator Reveal a New Inhibitor of Aminoglycoside Resistance. Aminoglycosides are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics that have been used in the clinic for almost a century. The rapid spread of bacterial genes coding for aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes has, however, dramatically decreased the utility of aminoglycosides. We have previously reported several aminoglycoside potentiators that work by inhibiting aminoglycoside N-6'-acetyltransferase, one of the most common determinants of aminoglycoside resistance. Among these, prodrugs that combine the structure of an aminoglycoside with that of pantothenate into one molecule are especially promising. We report here a series of cellular studies to investigate the activity and mechanism of action of these prodrugs further. Our results reveal a new aminoglycoside resistance inhibitor, as well as the possibility that these prodrugs are transformed into more than one inhibitor in bacteria. We also report that the onset of the potentiators is rapid. Their low cell cytotoxicity, good stability, and potentiation of various aminoglycosides, against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, make them interesting compounds for the development of new drugs. | 2018 | 30059603 |
| 6307 | 6 | 0.9994 | High-density transposon libraries utilising outward-oriented promoters identify mechanisms of action and resistance to antimicrobials. The use of bacterial transposon mutant libraries in phenotypic screens is a well-established technique for determining which genes are essential or advantageous for growth in conditions of interest. Standard, inactivating, transposon libraries cannot give direct information about genes whose over-expression gives a selective advantage. We report the development of a system wherein outward-oriented promoters are included in mini-transposons, generation of transposon mutant libraries in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their use to probe genes important for growth under selection with the antimicrobial fosfomycin, and a recently-developed leucyl-tRNA synthase inhibitor. In addition to the identification of known mechanisms of action and resistance, we identify the carbon-phosphorous lyase complex as a potential resistance liability for fosfomycin in E. coli and P. aeruginosa. The use of this technology can facilitate the development of novel mechanism-of-action antimicrobials that are urgently required to combat the increasing threat worldwide from antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria. | 2020 | 33186989 |
| 9357 | 7 | 0.9994 | The bifunctional enzymes of antibiotic resistance. The evolutionary union of two genes--each encoding proteins of complementary enzymatic activity--into a single gene so as to allow the coordinated expression of these activities as a fusion polypeptide, is an increasingly recognized biological occurrence. The result of this genetic union is the bifunctional enzyme. This fusion of separate catalytic activities into a single protein, whose gene is regulated by a single promoter, is seen especially where the coordinated expression of the separate activities is highly desirable. Increasingly, a circumstance driving the evolution of the bifunctional enzyme in bacteria is the resistance response of bacteria to antibiotic chemotherapy. We summarize the knowledge on bifunctional antibiotic-resistance enzymes, as possible harbingers of clinically significant resistance mechanisms of the future. | 2009 | 19615931 |
| 9105 | 8 | 0.9993 | tRNA Methylation Is a Global Determinant of Bacterial Multi-drug Resistance. Gram-negative bacteria are intrinsically resistant to drugs because of their double-membrane envelope structure that acts as a permeability barrier and as an anchor for efflux pumps. Antibiotics are blocked and expelled from cells and cannot reach high-enough intracellular concentrations to exert a therapeutic effect. Efforts to target one membrane protein at a time have been ineffective. Here, we show that m(1)G37-tRNA methylation determines the synthesis of a multitude of membrane proteins via its control of translation at proline codons near the start of open reading frames. Decreases in m(1)G37 levels in Escherichia coli and Salmonella impair membrane structure and sensitize these bacteria to multiple classes of antibiotics, rendering them incapable of developing resistance or persistence. Codon engineering of membrane-associated genes reduces their translational dependence on m(1)G37 and confers resistance. These findings highlight the potential of tRNA methylation in codon-specific translation to control the development of multi-drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. | 2019 | 30981730 |
| 4254 | 9 | 0.9993 | The forgotten Gram-negative bacilli: what genetic determinants are telling us about the spread of antibiotic resistance. Gram-negative bacilli have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics over the past 2 decades due to selective pressure from the extensive use of antibiotics in the hospital and community. In addition, these bacteria have made optimum use of their innate genetic capabilities to extensively mutate structural and regulatory genes of antibiotic resistance factors, broadening their ability to modify or otherwise inactivate antibiotics in the cell. The great genetic plasticity of bacteria have permitted the transfer of resistance genes on plasmids and integrons between bacterial species allowing an unprecedented dissemination of genes leading to broad-spectrum resistance. As a result, many Gram-negative bacilli possess a complicated set of genes encoding efflux pumps, alterations in outer membrane lipopolysaccharides, regulation of porins and drug inactivating enzymes such as beta-lactamases, that diminish the clinical utility of today's antibiotics. The cross-species mobility of these resistance genes indicates that multidrug resistance will only increase in the future, impacting the efficacy of existing antimicrobials. This trend toward greater resistance comes at a time when very few new antibiotics have been identified capable of controlling such multi-antibiotic resistant pathogens. The continued dissemination of these resistance genes underscores the need for new classes of antibiotics that do not possess the liability of cross-resistance to existing classes of drugs and thereby having diminished potency against Gram-negative bacilli. | 2006 | 16359640 |
| 4429 | 10 | 0.9993 | General mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics. Resistance to antimicrobial agents may result from intrinsic properties of organisms, through mutation and through plasmid- and transposon-specified genes. beta-Lactam resistance is most frequently associated with one or more chromosomal- or plasmid-specified beta-lactamases. Recently, mutations modifying penicillin-binding proteins have been detected with increased frequency as a cause of beta-lactam resistance. Mixed mechanisms, reduced permeability and tolerance are other causes of resistance. Aminoglycoside resistance always involves some modification of drug uptake, most often due to a variety of enzymes modifying these compounds. Reduced uptake is a primary cause of resistance in anaerobic bacteria and bacteria growing anaerobically, some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and mutants that arise during antimicrobial therapy and are defective in energy-generation systems. Resistance to other antimicrobial agents is presented in tabular form. | 1988 | 3062000 |
| 9926 | 11 | 0.9993 | beta-Lactamases of gram-negative bacteria: new challenges for new drugs. The major emphasis in new drug design within the beta-lactam family has been on compounds less susceptible to hydrolysis by beta-lactamases and on combinations containing an enzyme-labile drug plus a beta-lactamase inhibitor. The introduction of such new compounds into clinical use has been followed by the discovery of novel mechanisms of resistance among gram-negative bacteria. These include the appearance of new enzymes, many of which are derivatives of older beta-lactamases. In addition, genes for certain broad-spectrum enzymes previously restricted to chromosomal sites have moved onto plasmids. There is now a greater appreciation of how alterations in enzyme expression--either alone or in concert with changes in drug permeation--can also lead to resistance. Clearly, recent events in the development of new beta-lactam agents have led to a new phase in the understanding of beta-lactam resistance. | 1992 | 1600011 |
| 8925 | 12 | 0.9993 | Insect Antimicrobial Peptide Complexes Prevent Resistance Development in Bacteria. In recent decades much attention has been paid to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as natural antibiotics, which are presumably protected from resistance development in bacteria. However, experimental evolution studies have revealed prompt resistance increase in bacteria to any individual AMP tested. Here we demonstrate that naturally occurring compounds containing insect AMP complexes have clear advantage over individual peptide and small molecule antibiotics in respect of drug resistance development. As a model we have used the compounds isolated from bacteria challenged maggots of Calliphoridae flies. The compound isolated from blow fly Calliphora vicina was found to contain three distinct families of cell membrane disrupting/permeabilizing peptides (defensins, cecropins and diptericins), one family of proline rich peptides and several unknown antimicrobial substances. Resistance changes under long term selective pressure of the compound and reference antibiotics cefotaxime, meropenem and polymyxin B were tested using Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter baumannii clinical strains. All the strains readily developed resistance to the reference antibiotics, while no signs of resistance growth to the compound were registered. Similar results were obtained with the compounds isolated from 3 other fly species. The experiments revealed that natural compounds containing insect AMP complexes, in contrast to individual AMP and small molecule antibiotics, are well protected from resistance development in bacteria. Further progress in the research of natural AMP complexes may provide novel solutions to the drug resistance problem. | 2015 | 26177023 |
| 9780 | 13 | 0.9993 | Colistin resistance in Escherichia coli confers protection of the cytoplasmic but not outer membrane from the polymyxin antibiotic. Colistin is a polymyxin antibiotic of last resort for the treatment of infections caused by multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. By targeting lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the antibiotic disrupts both the outer and cytoplasmic membranes, leading to bacterial death and lysis. Colistin resistance in Escherichia coli occurs via mutations in the chromosome or the acquisition of mobilized colistin-resistance (mcr) genes. Both these colistin-resistance mechanisms result in chemical modifications to the LPS, with positively charged moieties added at the cytoplasmic membrane before the LPS is transported to the outer membrane. We have previously shown that MCR-1-mediated LPS modification protects the cytoplasmic but not the outer membrane from damage caused by colistin, enabling bacterial survival. However, it remains unclear whether this observation extends to colistin resistance conferred by other mcr genes, or resistance due to chromosomal mutations. Using a panel of clinical E. coli that had acquired mcr -1, -1.5, -2, -3, -3.2 or -5, or had acquired polymyxin resistance independently of mcr genes, we found that almost all isolates were susceptible to colistin-mediated permeabilization of the outer, but not cytoplasmic, membrane. Furthermore, we showed that permeabilization of the outer membrane of colistin-resistant isolates by the polymyxin is in turn sufficient to sensitize bacteria to the antibiotic rifampicin, which normally cannot cross the LPS monolayer. These findings demonstrate that colistin resistance in these E. coli isolates is due to protection of the cytoplasmic but not outer membrane from colistin-mediated damage, regardless of the mechanism of resistance. | 2021 | 34723787 |
| 793 | 14 | 0.9993 | Efflux-mediated drug resistance in bacteria. Drug resistance in bacteria, and especially resistance to multiple antibacterials, has attracted much attention in recent years. In addition to the well known mechanisms, such as inactivation of drugs and alteration of targets, active efflux is now known to play a major role in the resistance of many species to antibacterials. Drug-specific efflux (e.g. that of tetracycline) has been recognised as the major mechanism of resistance to this drug in Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, we now recognise that multidrug efflux pumps are becoming increasingly important. Such pumps play major roles in the antiseptic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus, and fluoroquinolone resistance of S. aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Multidrug pumps, often with very wide substrate specificity, are not only essential for the intrinsic resistance of many Gram-negative bacteria but also produce elevated levels of resistance when overexpressed. Paradoxically, 'advanced' agents for which resistance is unlikely to be caused by traditional mechanisms, such as fluoroquinolones and beta-lactams of the latest generations, are likely to select for overproduction mutants of these pumps and make the bacteria resistant in one step to practically all classes of antibacterial agents. Such overproduction mutants are also selected for by the use of antiseptics and biocides, increasingly incorporated into consumer products, and this is also of major concern. We can consider efflux pumps as potentially effective antibacterial targets. Inhibition of efflux pumps by an efflux pump inhibitor would restore the activity of an agent subject to efflux. An alternative approach is to develop antibacterials that would bypass the action of efflux pumps. | 2004 | 14717618 |
| 792 | 15 | 0.9993 | Multiple antibiotic resistance and efflux. Multiple antibiotic resistance in bacteria was at first thought to be caused exclusively by the combination of several resistance genes, each coding for resistance to a single drug. More recently, it became clear that such phenotypes are often achieved by the activity of drug efflux pumps. Some of these efflux pumps exhibit an extremely wide specificity covering practically all antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, detergents, dyes, and other inhibitors, the exception perhaps being very hydrophilic compounds. Such efflux pumps work with exceptional efficiency in Gram-negative bacteria through their synergistic interaction with the outer membrane barrier. It is disturbing that the antibacterial agents of the most advanced type, which are unaffected by common resistance mechanisms, are precisely the compounds whose use appears to select for multidrug-resistant mutants that overproduce these efflux pumps of wide specificity. | 1998 | 10066525 |
| 4835 | 16 | 0.9993 | Genetic and biochemical basis of resistance of Enterobacteriaceae to beta-lactam antibiotics. Resistance to beta-lactam drugs is usually determined by genes mediating the production of beta-lactamases. These genes can be located on resistance plasmids or on the chromosome. Resistance to drugs which have been available for many years is mostly transposable. Although the origin of these genes is not known, it is possible to draw a hypothetical flow diagram of the evolution of resistance genes in general. The mechanism of resistance although mediated in Gram-negative bacteria mostly by beta-lactamases cannot be simply described as the hydrolytic function of the enzyme. It is a complex interaction involving the affinity of the drug for the target and the lactamase, the amount of drug in the periplasmic space, the amount of enzyme and the number of lethal target sites. Usually one of these factors is predominant. | 1986 | 3491818 |
| 4428 | 17 | 0.9993 | Multidrug resistance in enteric and other gram-negative bacteria. In Gram-negative bacteria, multidrug resistance is a term that is used to describe mechanisms of resistance by chromosomal genes that are activated by induction or mutation caused by the stress of exposure to antibiotics in natural and clinical environments. Unlike plasmid-borne resistance genes, there is no alteration or degradation of drugs or need for genetic transfer. Exposure to a single drug leads to cross-resistance to many other structurally and functionally unrelated drugs. The only mechanism identified for multidrug resistance in bacteria is drug efflux by membrane transporters, even though many of these transporters remain to be identified. The enteric bacteria exhibit mostly complex multidrug resistance systems which are often regulated by operons or regulons. The purpose of this review is to survey molecular mechanisms of multidrug resistance in enteric and other Gram-negative bacteria, and to speculate on the origins and natural physiological functions of the genes involved. | 1996 | 8647368 |
| 4407 | 18 | 0.9993 | A Simple Method for Assessment of MDR Bacteria for Over-Expressed Efflux Pumps. It is known that bacteria showing a multi-drug resistance phenotype use several mechanisms to overcome the action of antibiotics. As a result, this phenotype can be a result of several mechanisms or a combination of thereof. The main mechanisms of antibiotic resistance are: mutations in target genes (such as DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV); over-expression of efflux pumps; changes in the cell envelope; down regulation of membrane porins, and modified lipopolysaccharide component of the outer cell membrane (in the case of Gram-negative bacteria). In addition, adaptation to the environment, such as quorum sensing and biofilm formation can also contribute to bacterial persistence. Due to the rapid emergence and spread of bacterial isolates showing resistance to several classes of antibiotics, methods that can rapidly and efficiently identify isolates whose resistance is due to active efflux have been developed. However, there is still a need for faster and more accurate methodologies. Conventional methods that evaluate bacterial efflux pump activity in liquid systems are available. However, these methods usually use common efflux pump substrates, such as ethidium bromide or radioactive antibiotics and therefore, require specialized instrumentation, which is not available in all laboratories. In this review, we will report the results obtained with the Ethidium Bromide-agar Cartwheel method. This is an easy, instrument-free, agar based method that has been modified to afford the simultaneous evaluation of as many as twelve bacterial strains. Due to its simplicity it can be applied to large collections of bacteria to rapidly screen for multi-drug resistant isolates that show an over-expression of their efflux systems. The principle of the method is simple and relies on the ability of the bacteria to expel a fluorescent molecule that is substrate for most efflux pumps, ethidium bromide. In this approach, the higher the concentration of ethidium bromide required to produce fluorescence of the bacterial mass, the greater the efflux capacity of the bacterial cells. We have tested and applied this method to a large number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to detect efflux activity among these multi-drug resistant isolates. The presumptive efflux activity detected by the Ethidium Bromide-agar Cartwheel method was subsequently confirmed by the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration for several antibiotics in the presence and absence of known efflux pump inhibitors. | 2013 | 23589748 |
| 9426 | 19 | 0.9993 | Determination of Effects and Mechanisms of Action of Bacterial Amyloids on Antibiotic Resistance. Bacterial functional amyloids, apart from their many other functions, can influence the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and other antibacterial agents. Mechanisms of modulation of susceptibility of bacterial cells to antimicrobials can be either indirect or direct. The former mechanisms are exemplified by the contribution of functional amyloids to biofilm formation, which may effectively prevent the penetration of various compounds into bacterial cells. The direct mechanisms include the effects of bacterial proteins revealing amyloid-like structures, like the C-terminal region of the Escherichia coli Hfq protein, on the expression of genes involved in antibiotic resistance. Therefore, in this paper, we describe methods by which effects and mechanisms of action of bacterial amyloids on antibiotic resistance can be studied. Assessment of formation of biofilms, determination of the efficiency of antibiotic resistance in solid and liquid media, and determination of the effects on gene expression at levels of mRNA abundance and stability and protein abundance are described. | 2022 | 35951301 |