Abstract
Single amino acid substitutions in the Ω loop of KPC β-lactamases are known to lead to resistance to the ceftazidime-avibactam combination. Here, we investigate this mechanism of resistance in CTX-M enzymes, which are the most widely spread extended-spectrum β-lactamases worldwide. Nine single amino acid polymorphisms were identified in the Ω loop of the 172 CTX-M sequences present in the Lahey database of β-lactamases. The corresponding modifications were introduced in CTX-M-15 by site-directed mutagenesis. None of the nine substitutions was associated with ceftazidime-avibactam resistance in Escherichia coli TOP10. However, two substitutions led to 4-fold (P167S) and 16-fold (L169Q) increases in the MIC of ceftazidime. We determined whether these substitutions favor the in vitro selection of mutants resistant to ceftazidime-avibactam. The selection provided mutants for the L169Q substitution but not for the P167S substitution or for the parental enzyme CTX-M-15. Resistance to the drug combination (MIC of ceftazidime, 16 μg/ml in the presence of 4 μg/ml of avibactam) resulted from the acquisition of the S130G substitution by CTX-M-15 L169Q. Purified CTX-M-15 with the two substitutions, L169Q and S130G, was only partially inhibited by avibactam at concentrations as high as 50,000 μM but retained ceftazidime hydrolysis activity with partially compensatory decreases in kcat and Km These results indicate that emergence of resistance to the ceftazidime-avibactam combination requires more than one mutation in most CTX-M-encoding genes. Acquisition of resistance could be restricted to rare variants harboring predisposing polymorphisms such as Q at position 169 detected in a single naturally occurring CTX-M enzyme (CTX-M-93).