Exploring sequence requirements for C?/C? carboxylate recognition in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa cephalosporinase: Insights into plasticity of the AmpC ?-lactamase.
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ABSTRACT: In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the chromosomally encoded class C cephalosporinase (AmpC ?-lactamase) is often responsible for high-level resistance to ?-lactam antibiotics. Despite years of study of these important ?-lactamases, knowledge regarding how amino acid sequence dictates function of the AmpC Pseudomonas-derived cephalosporinase (PDC) remains scarce. Insights into structure-function relationships are crucial to the design of both ?-lactams and high-affinity inhibitors. In order to understand how PDC recognizes the C?/C? carboxylate of ?-lactams, we first examined a molecular model of a P. aeruginosa AmpC ?-lactamase, PDC-3, in complex with a boronate inhibitor that possesses a side chain that mimics the thiazolidine/dihydrothiazine ring and the C?/C? carboxylate characteristic of ?-lactam substrates. We next tested the hypothesis generated by our model, i.e. that more than one amino acid residue is involved in recognition of the C?/C? ?-lactam carboxylate, and engineered alanine variants at three putative carboxylate binding amino acids. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the PDC-3 ?-lactamase maintains a high level of activity despite the substitution of C?/C? ?-lactam carboxylate recognition residues. Enzyme kinetics were determined for a panel of nine penicillin and cephalosporin analog boronates synthesized as active site probes of the PDC-3 enzyme and the Arg349Ala variant. Our examination of the PDC-3 active site revealed that more than one residue could serve to interact with the C?/C? carboxylate of the ?-lactam. This functional versatility has implications for novel drug design, protein evolution, and resistance profile of this enzyme.
SUBMITTER: Drawz SM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3104225 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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