Dissecting Colistin Resistance Mechanisms in Extensively Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Isolates

Nosocomial infections with; Acinetobacter baumannii; are a global problem in intensive care units with high mortality rates. Increasing resistance to first- and second-line antibiotics has forced the use of colistin as last-resort treatment, and increasing development of colistin resistance in; A. baumannii; has been reported. We evaluated the transcriptional regulator PmrA as potential drug target to restore colistin efficacy in; A. baumannii; Deletion of; pmrA; restored colistin susceptibility in 10 of the 12 extensively drug-resistant; A. baumannii; clinical isolates studied, indicating the importance of PmrA in the drug resistance phenotype. However, two strains remained highly resistant, indicating that PmrA-mediated overexpression of the phosphoethanolamine (PetN) transferase PmrC is not the exclusive colistin resistance mechanism in; A. baumannii; A detailed genetic characterization revealed a new colistin resistance mechanism mediated by genetic integration of the insertion element IS; AbaI; upstream of the PmrC homolog EptA (93% identity), leading to its overexpression. We found that; eptA; was ubiquitously present in clinical strains belonging to the international clone 2, and IS; AbaI; integration upstream of; eptA; was required to mediate the colistin-resistant phenotype. In addition, we found a duplicated IS; AbaI; -; eptA; cassette in one isolate, indicating that this colistin resistance determinant may be embedded in a mobile genetic element. Our data disprove PmrA as a drug target for adjuvant therapy but highlight the importance of PetN transferase-mediated colistin resistance in clinical strains. We suggest that direct targeting of the homologous PetN transferases PmrC/EptA may have the potential to overcome colistin resistance in; A. baumannii; IMPORTANCE; The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized modern medicine and enabled us to cure previously deadly bacterial infections. However, a progressive increase in antibiotic resistance rates is a major and global threat for our health care system. Colistin represents one of our last-resort antibiotics that is still active against most Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, but increasing resistance is reported worldwide, in particular due to the plasmid-encoded protein MCR-1 present in pathogens such as; Escherichia coli; and; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Here, we showed that colistin resistance in; A. baumannii; , a top-priority pathogen causing deadly nosocomial infections, is mediated through different avenues that result in increased activity of homologous phosphoethanolamine (PetN) transferases. Considering that MCR-1 is also a PetN transferase, our findings indicate that PetN transferases might be the Achilles heel of superbugs and that direct targeting of them may have the potential to preserve the activity of polymyxin antibiotics

High-content drug screening in zebrafish xenografts reveals high efficacy of dual MCL-1/BCL-XL inhibition against Ewing sarcoma

Ewing sarcoma is a pediatric bone and soft tissue cancer with an urgent need for new therapies to improve disease outcome. To identify effective drugs, phenotypic drug screening has proven to be a powerful method, but achievable throughput in mouse xenografts, the preclinical Ewing sarcoma standard model, is limited. Here, we explored the use of xenografts in zebrafish for high-throughput drug screening to discover new combination therapies for Ewing sarcoma. We subjected xenografts in zebrafish larvae to high-content imaging and subsequent automated tumor size analysis to screen single agents and compound combinations. We identified three drug combinations effective against Ewing sarcoma cells: Irinotecan combined with either an MCL-1 or an BCL-XL inhibitor and in particular dual inhibition of the anti-apoptotic proteins MCL-1 and BCL-XL, which efficiently eradicated tumor cells in zebrafish xenografts. We confirmed enhanced efficacy of dual MCL-1/BCL-XL inhibition compared to single agents in a mouse PDX model. In conclusion, high-content screening of small compounds on Ewing sarcoma zebrafish xenografts identified dual MCL-1/BCL-XL targeting as a specific vulnerability and promising therapeutic strategy for Ewing sarcoma, which warrants further investigation towards clinical application. Keywords: Anti-apoptotic protein inhibitors; Ewing sarcoma; High-content imaging; Phenotypic drug screening; Zebrafish xenograft

A novel genome editing platform for drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii revealed an AdeR-unrelated tigecycline resistance mechanism

Infections with the Gram-negative coccobacillus Acinetobacter baumannii are a major threat in hospital settings. The progressing emergence of multidrug resistant clinical strains significantly reduces the treatment options for clinicians to fight A. baumannii infections. The current lack of robust methods to genetically manipulate drug resistant A. baumannii isolates impedes research on resistance and virulence mechanisms in clinically relevant strains. In this study we developed a highly efficient and versatile genome editing platform enabling the markerless modification of the genome of A. baumannii clinical and laboratory strains, regardless of their resistance profile.We applied this method for the deletion of AdeR, a transcription factor that regulates the expression of the AdeABC efflux pump in tigecycline resistant A. baumannii, to evaluate its function as a putative drug target. Loss of adeR reduced the MIC90 of tigecycline from 25 μg/ml in the parental strains to 3.1 μg/ml in the ΔadeR mutants indicating its importance in the drug resistant phenotype. However, 60% of the clinical isolates remained non-susceptible to tigecycline after adeR deletion. Evolution of artificial tigecycline resistance in two strains followed by whole genome sequencing revealed loss of function mutations in trm, suggesting its role in an alternative AdeABC-independent tigecycline resistance mechanism. This finding was strengthened by the confirmation of trm disruption in the majority of the tigecycline resistant clinical isolates. This study highlights the development and application of a powerful genome editing platform for A. baumannii enabling future research on drug resistance and virulence pathways in clinical relevant strains

Multimodal analysis of cell-free DNA whole-genome sequencing for pediatric cancers with low mutational burden

Sequencing of cell-free DNA in the blood of cancer patients (liquid biopsy) provides attractive opportunities for early diagnosis, assessment of treatment response, and minimally invasive disease monitoring. To unlock liquid biopsy analysis for pediatric tumors with few genetic aberrations, we introduce an integrated genetic/epigenetic analysis method and demonstrate its utility on 241 deep whole-genome sequencing profiles of 95 patients with Ewing sarcoma and 31 patients with other pediatric sarcomas. Our method achieves sensitive detection and classification of circulating tumor DNA in peripheral blood independent of any genetic alterations. Moreover, we benchmark different metrics for cell-free DNA fragmentation analysis, and we introduce the LIQUORICE algorithm for detecting circulating tumor DNA based on cancer-specific chromatin signatures. Finally, we combine several fragmentation-based metrics into an integrated machine learning classifier for liquid biopsy analysis that exploits widespread epigenetic deregulation and is tailored to cancers with low mutation rates. Clinical associations highlight the potential value of cfDNA fragmentation patterns as prognostic biomarkers in Ewing sarcoma. In summary, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of circulating tumor DNA beyond recurrent genetic aberrations, and it renders the benefits of liquid biopsy more readily accessible for childhood cancers

Multimodal analysis of cell-free DNA whole-genome sequencing for pediatric cancers with low mutational burden

Sequencing of cell-free DNA in the blood of cancer patients (liquid biopsy) provides attractive opportunities for early diagnosis, assessment of treatment response, and minimally invasive disease monitoring. To unlock liquid biopsy analysis for pediatric tumors with few genetic aberrations, we introduce an integrated genetic/epigenetic analysis method and demonstrate its utility on 241 deep whole-genome sequencing profiles of 95 patients with Ewing sarcoma and 31 patients with other pediatric sarcomas. Our method achieves sensitive detection and classification of circulating tumor DNA in peripheral blood independent of any genetic alterations. Moreover, we benchmark different metrics for cell-free DNA fragmentation analysis, and we introduce the LIQUORICE algorithm for detecting circulating tumor DNA based on cancer-specific chromatin signatures. Finally, we combine several fragmentation-based metrics into an integrated machine learning classifier for liquid biopsy analysis that exploits widespread epigenetic deregulation and is tailored to cancers with low mutation rates. Clinical associations highlight the potential value of cfDNA fragmentation patterns as prognostic biomarkers in Ewing sarcoma. In summary, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of circulating tumor DNA beyond recurrent genetic aberrations, and it renders the benefits of liquid biopsy more readily accessible for childhood cancers