The porin and the permeating antibiotic: A selective diffusion barrier in gram-negative bacteria

Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for a large proportion of antibiotic resistant bacterial diseases. These bacteria have a complex cell envelope that comprises an outer membrane and an inner membrane that delimit the periplasm. The outer membrane contains various protein channels, called porins, which are involved in the influx of various compounds, including several classes of antibiotics. Bacterial adaptation to reduce influx through porins is an increasing problem worldwide that contributes, together with efflux systems, to the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. An exciting challenge is to decipher the genetic and molecular basis of membrane impermeability as a bacterial resistance mechanism. This Review outlines the bacterial response towards antibiotic stress on altered membrane permeability and discusses recent advances in molecular approaches that are improving our knowledge of the physico-chemical parameters that govern the translocation of antibiotics through porin channel

How β-Lactam Antibiotics Enter Bacteria: A Dialogue with the Porins

BACKGROUND:Multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections have become a major concern in hospitals worldwide. This study investigates membrane translocation, which is the first step required for drug action on internal bacterial targets. beta-lactams, a major antibiotic class, use porins to pass through the outer membrane barrier of Gram-negative bacteria. Clinical reports have linked the MDR phenotype to altered membrane permeability including porin modification and efflux pump expression. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here influx of beta-lactams through the major Enterobacter aerogenes porin Omp36 is characterized. Conductance measurements through a single Omp36 trimer reconstituted into a planar lipid bilayer allowed us to count the passage of single beta-lactam molecules. Statistical analysis of each transport event yielded the kinetic parameters of antibiotic travel through Omp36 and distinguishable translocation properties of beta-lactams were quantified for ertapenem and cefepime. Expression of Omp36 in an otherwise porin-null bacterial strain is shown to confer increases in the killing rate of these antibiotics and in the corresponding bacterial susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We propose the idea of a molecular "passport" that allows rapid transport of substrates through porins. Deciphering antibiotic translocation provides new insights for the design of novel drugs that may be highly effective at passing through the porin constriction zone. Such data may hold the key for the next generation of antibiotics capable of rapid intracellular accumulation to circumvent the further development MDR infections

c-fos gene transcription in murine macrophages is modulated by a calcium-dependent block to elongation in intron 1.

Cultured mouse thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages exhibit a strong block to transcriptional elongation beyond the end of the c-fos gene first exon. This block is absent in freshly isolated peritoneal cells, appears slowly during culture, and does not require adherence of the cells. The extent of this block is largely responsible for the levels of c-fos mRNA in cultured macrophages, even after modulation by agents such as the tumor promoter phorbol myristate acetate and increased intracellular cyclic AMP, which also increase the activity of the c-fos promoter. When macrophages are cultured in the absence of mobilizable calcium, the block can no longer be relieved by any inducing agent. Conversely, upon calcium influxes, there is little alteration in the level of transcriptional initiation, but transcription proceeds efficiently through the entire c-fos locus. These results suggest the presence of an intragenic calcium-responsive element in the c-fos gene and illustrate its key role in the control of c-fos gene transcription

Structural and functional alterations of a colicin-resistant mutant of OmpF porin from Escherichia coli.

A strain of Escherichia coli, selected on the basis of its resistance to colicin N, reveals distinct structural and functional alterations in unspecific OmpF porin. A single mutation [Gly-119-->Asp (G119D)] was identified in the internal loop L3 that contributes critically to the formation of the construction inside the lumen of the pore. X-ray structure analysis to a resolution of 3.0 A reveals a locally altered peptide backbone, with the side chain of residue Asp-119 protruding into the channel, causing the area of the constriction (7 x 11 A in the wild type) to be subdivided into two intercommunicating subcompartments of 3-4 A in diameter. The functional consequences of this structural modification consist of a reduction of the channel conductance by about one-third, of altered ion selectivity and voltage gating, and of a decrease of permeation rates of various sugars by factors of 2-12. The structural modification of the mutant protein affects neither the beta-barrel structure nor those regions of the molecule that are exposed at the cell surface. Considering the colicin resistance of the mutant, it is inferred that in vivo, colicin N traverses the outer membrane through the porin channel or that the dynamics of the exposed loops are affected in the mutant such that these may impede the binding of the toxin