Role of Klebsiella pneumoniae LamB porin in antimicrobial resistance
Abstract
To investigate the contribution of LamB in Klebsiella pneumoniae antimicrobial resistance, we determined the MICs of various antibiotics and the frequency of mutation to increased cefoxitin or meropenem resistance of the strains CSUB10S (expressing only OmpK36), CSUB10R (lacking OmpK35 and OmpK36), and their derived isogenic insertion-duplication mutants deficient in LamB. Expression of LamB was indispensable in order for CSUB10S to lose OmpK36 and become resistant to cefoxitin, while in CSUB10R, LamB deficiency promoted increased resistance to carbapenem.
Full text
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY, Oc . 2003, p. 3332–3335 Vol. 47, No. 10
0066-4804/03/$08.00⫹0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.47.10.3332–3335.2003
Copy igh © 2003, Ame ican Socie y o Mic obiology. All Righ s Rese ed.
Role o Klebsiella pneumoniae OmpK35 Po in in
An imic obial Resis ance
An onio Dome´nech-Sa´nchez,
1,2
Luis Ma ínez-Ma ínez,
3,4
* San iago He na´ndez-Alle´s,
1,2
Ma ía del Ca men Conejo,
3
A
´l a o Pascual,
3,4
Juan M. Toma´s,
5
Sebas ia´n Albe í,
1,2,6
and Vicen e Ja ie Benedí
1,2
†
Labo a o y o Mic obiology, Depa men o Biology, Uni e si y o he Balea ic Island,
1
IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB),
2
and Resea ch Uni ,
Uni e si y Hospi al Son Du e a,
6
Palma de Mallo ca, Depa men o Mic obiology, School o Medicine, Uni e si y o Se ille,
3
and Uni e si y Hospi al V. Maca ena,
4
Se ille, and Depa men o Mic obiology,
Uni e si y o Ba celona,
5
Ba celona, Spain
Recei ed 25 Feb ua y 2003/Re u ned o modi ica ion 21 Ap il 2003/Accep ed 12 July 2003
OmpK35 om Klebsiella pneumoniae is he homologue o Esche ichia coli OmpF po in. Exp ession o
OmpK35 in K.pneumoniae s ain CSUB10R (lacking bo h OmpK35 and OmpK36) dec eased he MICs o
cephalospo ins and me openem >128- old and dec eased he MICs o imipenem, cip o loxacin, and chlo am-
phenicol >8- old. MIC educ ions by OmpK35 we e 4 imes (ce epime), 8 imes (ce o e an, ce o axime, and
ce pi ome), o 128 imes (ce azidime) highe han hose caused by OmpK36, bu he MICs we e simila o 1
dilu ion lowe o o he e alua ed agen s.
Klebsiella pneumoniae p oduces wo majo po ins (OmpK35
and OmpK36) and he quiescen po in OmpK37. De ails on
OmpK36 and OmpK37 ha e been p e iously epo ed (1, 6,
10). Mos clinical isola es o K.pneumoniae lacking ex ended-
spec um -lac amase (ESBL) exp ess bo h OmpK35 and
OmpK36 po ins, while mos ESBL-exp essing K.pneumoniae
clinical isola es p oduce only OmpK36 (9). Un il now, he ew
clinical isola es lacking bo h OmpK35 and OmpK36 ha e been
ESBL-p oducing s ains (14).
Loss o OmpK36 is ela ed o ce oxi in esis ance and in-
c eased esis ance o oxyimino- and zwi e ionic cephalospo-
ins in s ains p oducing ESBL and o ca bapenem esis ance
in s ains p oducing plasmid-media ed AmpC- ype -lac a-
mase (3, 4, 13, 15). Loss o OmpK36 also esul s in a mode a e
inc ease in luo oquinolone esis ance in s ains wi h al e ed
opoisome ases and/o ac i e e lux o quinolones.
P elimina y esul s (6) indica e ha OmpK35 allows e icien
pene a ion o ce oxi in, ce o axime, and ca bapenems, bu
he e has been some con o e sy on he ole o his po in in
cephalospo in pene a ion in K.pneumoniae (18). De ailed
s udies on he impo ance o OmpK35 in an imic obial esis-
ance a e lacking.
In o de o in es iga e he ole o OmpK35 in an imic obial
esis ance, we cloned he ompK35 gene. Fo his pu pose,
genomic DNA om K.pneumoniae s ain KT755 (19) was
diges ed wi h Sau3A. F agmen s we e liga ed o cosmid
pLA2917 (2) and used o ans o m Esche ichia coli DH5␣
(17). Recombinan s we e sc eened o ompK35 by PCR using
p ime s U681 (5⬘-CGG TTA CGG CCA GTG GGA ATA-3⬘)
and L1316 (5⬘-GAC GCA GAC CGA AAT CGA ACT-3⬘),
speci ic o en e obac e ial po ins and loca ed 215 and 850 bp
downs eam o he ompK36 s a codon, espec i ely (6). The
sizes o PCR-ampli ied p oduc s om ompF- ype genes a e
di e en om hose o o he po in genes (da a no shown).
One clone ca ying a plasmid, designa ed pSHA15, p oduced
an amplicon o he desi ed size. Ou e memb ane p o eins
(OMPs) we e isola ed as desc ibed p e iously (1, 13). Wes e n
blo analysis o OMPs was pe o med on Immobilon P il e s
(Millipo e, Bed o d, Mass.) using an i-OmpK35 an ibody (di-
lu ed 1:1,000) and alkaline phospha ase-labeled goa an i- ab-
bi immunoglobulin G (dilu ed 1:5,000) (13).
OMP p o iles o E.coli DH5␣ca ying pSHA15 exhibi ed a
band wi h he same mobili y as ha o OmpK35 exp essed by
K.pneumoniae KT755 (da a no shown). The exp ession o
OmpK35 was down egula ed in a high-osmola i y cul u e me-
dium, as occu s wi h he OmpF-like po ins (9), and OmpK35
eac ed wi h an i-OmpK35 in immunoblo expe imen s (da a
no shown). The OmpK35 p o ein exp essed by he E.coli
clone was ex ac ed by po in ex ac ion me hods based on he
ypsin esis ance o po ins and hei s ong nonco alen asso-
cia ion wi h he pep idoglycan, and i also e ained i s hea
modi iabili y.
The ompK35 gene o K.pneumoniae KT755 was sequenced
(EMBL da abase accession no. AJ011501). The amino acid
sequence o OmpK35 was aligned wi h he sequences o o he
en e obac e ial po ins (5, 7) (Fig. 1) on he basis o he con-
se a ion o he -s ands and some key esidues ha a e well
conse ed in po ins: Lys16, A g38, Glu58, A g75, Asp106,
Glu110, and A g126. OmpK35 is an OmpF homologue and
p esen s a ypical 16 -s and s uc u e, wi h eigh sho
pe iplasmic u ns and eigh ex acellula loops o a iable
leng hs. OmpK35 loop 3, which de ines he size o he ans-
memb ane po e in o he po ins, ex ends inside he ba el and
is he mos conse ed loop and con ains only one mo e esidue
han OmpF and OmpC om E.coli and OmpK36 om K.
pneumoniae.
Fo suscep ibili y es ing expe imen s, he ompK35 gene was
cloned in pWSK30 (20) and endowed wi h a kanamycin esis-
* Co esponding au ho . Mailing add ess: Depa men o Mic obi-
ology, School o Medicine, Uni e si y o Se ille, Apdo. 914, 41080
Se ille, Spain. Phone: 34-955008287. Fax: 34-954377413. E-mail:
[email p o ec ed].
† Deceased.
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ance casse e om pCS12 (8) o gi e pSHA16K. The
pSHA16K plasmid was cloned in o he po in-de icien K.pneu-
moniae CSUB10R clinical isola e and in o he clonally ela ed
(3) isola e K.pneumoniae CSUB10S (exp essing OmpK36).
The exp ession o OmpK35 does no in e e e wi h -lac a-
mase ac i i y in CSUB10R, as de e mined spec opho ome i-
cally wi h c ude supe na an s om sonica ed cells as he en-
zyme sou ce (15) (da a no shown).
MICs o ce oxi in (Sigma, Mad id, Spain), ce o e an (Zen-
eca, Mad id, Spain), ce azidime (Glaxo, Ba celona, Spain),
ce o axime (Sigma), ce epime (B is ol-Mye s Squibb, Mad id,
Spain), ce pi ome (Hoechs Ma ion-Roussel, Romain ille,
F ance), imipenem (Me ck Sha p & Dohme, Mad id, Spain),
me openem (Zeneca), cip o loxacin (Sigma), clina loxacin
(Pa ke-Da is, Ann A bo , Mich.), amikacin (Sigma), gen ami-
cin (Sigma), e acycline (Sigma), and chlo amphenicol (Sig-
ma) o s ains CSUB10S and CSUB10R and OmpK35-ex-
p essing ansconjugan s de i ed om hese wo s ains (Table
1) we e de e mined by mic odilu ion, acco ding o Na ional
Commi ee o Clinical Labo a o y S anda ds (NCCLS) guide-
lines (16). An imic obial agen MICs o K.pneumoniae
CSUB10R con aining plasmids pKSK ( ec o ) and pSHA25K
(OmpK36) we e also de e mined o compa ison.
Exp ession o OmpK35 in K.pneumoniae CSUB10R e-
duced (Fig. 2) he MICs o all agen s es ed wo o mo e imes.
The highes educ ions (ⱖ128- old) we e obse ed o cepha-
mycins, oxyimino-cephalospo ins, zwi e ionic cephalospo ins,
and me openem. Signi ican educ ions (ⱖ8- old) we e also
no ed o imipenem, cip o loxacin, and chlo amphenicol. The
lowes educ ions we e ob ained o hose agen s o which K.
FIG. 1. Compa ison by alignmen o he deduced OmpK35 sequence om K.pneumoniae wi h he sequences o OmpF and OmpC om E.coli
and OmpK36 om K.pneumoniae a ailable in GenBank, EMBL, and DDBJ. Seconda y s uc u e mo i s a e desc ibed on he basis o he c ys al
s uc u e o OmpK36. The numbe ing is based on he ma u e OmpK36. Conse ed amino acids (shaded and boxed) and gaps in oduced o
maximize alignmen (hyphens) a e indica ed.
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pneumoniae CSUB10R was al eady suscep ible: clina loxacin,
e acycline, amikacin, and gen amicin. Exp ession o OmpK36
in CSUB10R also dec eased he MICs o all an imic obial
agen s es ed, excep clina loxacin, o alues simila o he
MICs o he ela ed clinical isola e CSUB10S. MIC educ-
ions caused by OmpK35 exp ession we e 4 imes (ce epime),
8 imes (ce o e an, ce o axime, and ce pi ome), o 128 imes
(ce azidime) highe han hose caused by OmpK36 exp es-
sion. These esul s, howe e , do no necessa ily mean ha
OmpK35 should be conside ed speci ic o hese agen s, as
exp ession o OmpK36 also signi ican ly educed hei MICs.
MIC educ ions caused by OmpK35 we e he same (me o-
penem, amikacin, gen amicin, and e acycline) o 1 dilu ion
s ep lowe (ce oxi in, imipenem, cip o loxacin, clina loxacin,
and chlo amphenicol) han hose caused by OmpK36.
Exp ession o OmpK35 in K.pneumoniae CSUB10S, leading
o he simul aneous exp ession o he wo majo po ins o K.
pneumoniae (Fig. 2), esul ed in he MICs o he e alua ed
agen s being he same o one dilu ion s ep highe han hose
agains he ans o man exp essing only OmpK35.
Exp ession o bo h OmpK35 and o a lesse ex en OmpK36
dec eases he MICs o cip o loxacin o K.pneumoniae
CSUB10R (which con ains a Se 83Phe change in he A subuni
o DNA gy ase and exp esses ac i e e lux o luo oquinolones
[12]), indica ing ha bo h po ins allow pene a ion o his d ug.
Po in exp ession was minimally ele an o he ac i i y o
clina loxacin, a luo oquinolone much mo e ac i e agains
CSUB10R han cip o loxacin. OmpK35 and OmpK36 exp es-
sion also dec eased he MICs o e acycline and chlo amphen-
icol. These da a suppo he gene al ole o bo h po ins as
hyd ophilic po es. MICs o aminoglycosides did no signi i-
can ly change a e po in exp ession, p esumably because o
he pene a ion o hese agen s by po in-independen pa h-
ways.
Mos ESBL-p oducing K.pneumoniae s ains lack OmpK35
(11). Loss o his po in may be one o he ac o s con ibu ing
o an imic obial esis ance in ESBL-p oducing K.pneumoniae
and may a o he selec ion o addi ional mechanisms o e-
sis ance, including loss o OmpK36 and/o ac i e e lux (14).
OmpK35 is no no mally exp essed in high-osmola i y me-
dia, which may esul in ep ession o i s exp ession in K.
pneumoniae in i o. This may be o he apeu ic impo ance
because o he limi ed en ance o ce ain an imic obial agen s
in K.pneumoniae. New s udies on po in exp ession in K.pneu-
moniae g own in i o a e needed.
This wo k was suppo ed in pa by g an s om he Fondo de
In es igaciones Sani a ias o he Minis e io de Sanidad y Consumo o
Spain o L.M.-M. and V.J.B and Plan Nacional de I⫹D (Minis e io de
Ciencia y Tecnología) o J.M T. A.D.-S. was suppo ed by a p edoc-
o al ellowship om he Minis e io de Educacio´n y Cul u a o he
Spanish go e nmen .
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S ain Po in(s) MIC (g/ml)
a
FOX CTT CAZ CTX FEP PIR IPM MEM CIP CLX AMK GEN TET CHL
CSUB10S OmpK36 2 0.06 256 8 2 4 0.125 0.03 0.5 0.06 1 4 2 16
CSUB10R None 128 32 ⬎512 512 512 512 1 4 4 0.125 1 8 4 64
CSUB10R/pSHA16K OmpK35 1 0.03 2 0.5 0.125 0.5 0.125 0.03 0.25 0.06 0.5 4 1 8
CSUB10R/pSHA25K OmpK36 2 0.125 256 4 0.5 4 0.25 0.03 0.5 0.125 0.5 4 1 16
CSUB10S/pSHA16K OmpK35 and OmpK36 1 0.03 4 1 0.125 0.5 0.125 0.03 0.5 0.06 1 4 1 8
CSUB10R/pKSK None 128 16 ⬎512 256 128 256 1 4 2 0.125 1 8 2 64
a
Abb e ia ions: FOX, ce oxi in; CTT, ce o e an; CAZ, ce azidime; CTX, ce o axime; FEP, ce epime; PIR, ce pi ome; IPM, imipenem; MEM, me openem; CIP;
cip o loxacin; CLX, clina loxacin; AMK, amikacin; GEN, gen amicin; TET, e acycline; CHL, chlo amphenicol.
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