Publications by authors named "Andrew R Mack"

Ledaborbactam (formerly VNRX-5236), a bicyclic boronate β-lactamase inhibitor with activity against class A, C, and D β-lactamases, is under development as an orally bioavailable etzadroxil prodrug (VNRX-7145) in combination with ceftibuten for the treatment of urinary tract infections. At ceftibuten breakpoints of ≤1 mg/L (EUCAST) and ≤8 mg/L (CLSI), 92.5% and 99.

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Taniborbactam, a bicyclic boronate β-lactamase inhibitor with activity against carbapenemase (KPC), Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase (VIM), New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM), extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), OXA-48, and AmpC β-lactamases, is under clinical development in combination with cefepime. Susceptibility of 200 previously characterized carbapenem-resistant and 197 multidrug-resistant (MDR) to cefepime-taniborbactam and comparators was determined by broth microdilution. For (192 KPC; 7 OXA-48-related), MIC values of β-lactam components for cefepime-taniborbactam, ceftazidime-avibactam, and meropenem-vaborbactam were 2, 2, and 1 mg/L, respectively.

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The expression of antibiotic-inactivating enzymes, such as -derived cephalosporinase-3 (PDC-3), is a major mechanism of intrinsic resistance in bacteria. To explore the relationships between structural dynamics and altered substrate specificity as a result of amino acid substitutions in PDC-3, innovative computational methods like machine learning driven adaptive bandit molecular dynamics simulations and markov state modeling of the wild-type PDC-3 and nine clinically identified variants were conducted. Our analysis reveals that structural changes in the Ω loop controls the dynamics of the active site.

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Compared to other genera of Gram-negative pathogens, is adept in acquiring complex non-enzymatic and enzymatic resistance mechanisms thus remaining a challenge to even novel antibiotics including recently developed β-lactam and β-lactamase inhibitor combinations. This study shows that the novel β-lactam enhancer approach enables cefepime/zidebactam to overcome both non-enzymatic and enzymatic resistance mechanisms associated with a challenging panel of . This study highlights that the β-lactam enhancer mechanism is a promising alternative to the conventional β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor approach in combating ever-evolving MDR .

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A wide variety of clinically observed single amino acid substitutions in the Ω-loop region have been associated with increased minimum inhibitory concentrations and resistance to ceftazidime (CAZ) and ceftolozane (TOL) in -derived cephalosporinase and other class C β-lactamases. Herein, we demonstrate the naturally occurring tyrosine to histidine substitution of amino acid 221 (Y221H) in -derived cephalosporinase (PDC) enables CAZ and TOL hydrolysis, leading to similar kinetic profiles ( = 2.3 ± 0.

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Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are a major clinical challenge. Many isolates are carbapenem resistant, which severely limits treatment options; thus, novel therapeutic combinations, such as imipenem-relebactam (IMI/REL), ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ/AVI), ceftolozane-tazobactam (TOL/TAZO), and meropenem-vaborbactam (MEM/VAB) were developed. Here, we studied two extensively drug-resistant (XDR) P.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a hard-to-treat pathogen, particularly in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, and this study tracked multidrug-resistant strains over 17 months in a young CF patient who had a double lung transplant.* -
  • Researchers analyzed 22 P. aeruginosa isolates using techniques such as whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, finding that most strains were resistant to numerous antibiotics and that mutations were accumulating over time, particularly in genes related to DNA repair.* -
  • The study highlighted significant genetic diversity among the isolates and identified variations in gene expression related to antibiotic resistance, emphasizing the need for new clinical approaches rather than just relying on single pure cultures for analysis.*
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Understanding allostery in enzymes and tools to identify it offer promising alternative strategies to inhibitor development. Through a combination of equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we identify allosteric effects and communication pathways in two prototypical class A β-lactamases, TEM-1 and KPC-2, which are important determinants of antibiotic resistance. The nonequilibrium simulations reveal pathways of communication operating over distances of 30 Å or more.

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Successful treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii infections require early and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. One of the first steps in this process is understanding which β-lactamase (bla) alleles are present and in what combinations. Thus, we performed WGS on 98 carbapenem-resistant A.

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Significant advances were made in antibiotic development during the past 5 years. Novel agents were added to the arsenal that target critical priority pathogens, including multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales. Of these, 4 novel β-lactam-β-lactamase inhibitor combinations (ceftolozane-tazobactam, ceftazidime-avibactam, meropenem-vaborbactam, and imipenem-cilastatin-relebactam) reached clinical approval in the United States.

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Unlike for classes A and B, a standardized amino acid numbering scheme has not been proposed for the class C (AmpC) β-lactamases, which complicates communication in the field. Here, we propose a scheme developed through a collaborative approach that considers both sequence and structure, preserves traditional numbering of catalytically important residues (Ser, Lys, Tyr, and Lys), is adaptable to new variants or enzymes yet to be discovered and includes a variation for genetic and epidemiological applications.

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