Proteasome Accessory Factor C (pafC) Is a novel gene Involved in Mycobacterium Intrinsic Resistance to broad-spectrum antibiotics--Fluoroquinolones

Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 3:5:11910. doi: 10.1038/srep11910.

Abstract

Antibiotics resistance poses catastrophic threat to global public health. Novel insights into the underlying mechanisms of action will inspire better measures to control drug resistance. Fluoroquinolones are potent and widely prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics. Bacterial protein degradation pathways represent novel druggable target for the development of new classes of antibiotics. Mycobacteria proteasome accessory factor C (pafC), a component of bacterial proteasome, is involved in fluoroquinolones resistance. PafC deletion mutants are hypersensitive to fluoroquinolones, including moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, but not to other antibiotics such as isoniazid, rifampicin, spectinomycin, chloramphenicol, capreomycin. This phenotype can be restored by complementation. The pafC mutant is hypersensitive to H2O2 exposure. The iron chelator (bipyridyl) and a hydroxyl radical scavenger (thiourea) can abolish the difference. The finding that pafC is a novel intrinsic selective resistance gene provided new evidence for the bacterial protein degradation pathway as druggable target for the development of new class of antibiotics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antitubercular Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Fluoroquinolones / pharmacology*
  • Free Radical Scavengers / pharmacology
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / pharmacology
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microbial Viability
  • Moxifloxacin
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional
  • Mycobacterium smegmatis / drug effects
  • Mycobacterium smegmatis / genetics*
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics
  • Thiourea / pharmacology

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Fluoroquinolones
  • Free Radical Scavengers
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Thiourea
  • Moxifloxacin