CpxR Activates MexAB-OprM Efflux Pump Expression and Enhances Antibiotic Resistance in Both Laboratory and Clinical nalB-Type Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

PLoS Pathog. 2016 Oct 13;12(10):e1005932. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932. eCollection 2016 Oct.

Abstract

Resistance-Nodulation-Division (RND) efflux pumps are responsible for multidrug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, we demonstrate that CpxR, previously identified as a regulator of the cell envelope stress response in Escherichia coli, is directly involved in activation of expression of RND efflux pump MexAB-OprM in P. aeruginosa. A conserved CpxR binding site was identified upstream of the mexA promoter in all genome-sequenced P. aeruginosa strains. CpxR is required to enhance mexAB-oprM expression and drug resistance, in the absence of repressor MexR, in P. aeruginosa strains PA14. As defective mexR is a genetic trait associated with the clinical emergence of nalB-type multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa during antibiotic treatment, we investigated the involvement of CpxR in regulating multidrug resistance among resistant isolates generated in the laboratory via antibiotic treatment and collected in clinical settings. CpxR is required to activate expression of mexAB-oprM and enhances drug resistance, in the absence or presence of MexR, in ofloxacin-cefsulodin-resistant isolates generated in the laboratory. Furthermore, CpxR was also important in the mexR-defective clinical isolates. The newly identified regulatory linkage between CpxR and the MexAB-OprM efflux pump highlights the presence of a complex regulatory network modulating multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa.

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / physiology*
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple / physiology*
  • Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Humans
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Pseudomonas Infections / metabolism*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • MexA protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • MexB protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • OprM protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • CpxR protein, Bacteria

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China [No. 31270127 to YPW and No. 81071398 to ZXT] and Grant B02 of the State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research. YPW is the recipient of a grant from the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [No. 39925017]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.