International dissemination of Escherichia coli strains with discrepant behaviour in phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility tests.

Preventing the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance depends on appropriate antibiotic stewardship and accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). We report the international dissemination of Escherichia coli strains, showing discrepancies between reference methods when phenotypically tested for susceptibility to piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP). We demonstrate that these related strains are predisposed to problematic TZP AST interpretations.

Comparison of three reference methods for testing susceptibility of staphylococci to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

Three reference MIC methods approved by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute were compared by testing 567 staphylococci against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Category agreement ranged from 94.9% (broth macrodilution versus broth microdilution) to 98.6% (agar dilution versus broth microdilution). Twenty-seven strains resistant by broth macrodilution were susceptible by broth microdilution.

Extracellular domain of prolactin receptor from bovine mammary gland: expression in Escherichia coli, purification and characterization of its interaction with lactogenic hormones.

The cDNA of the extracellular domain of bovine prolactin receptor (bPRLR-ECD) was cloned and expressed at high yield as an insoluble protein in Escherichia coli. This protein was solubilized, refolded and purified to > 98% homogeneity yielding 80 mg of monomeric fraction per 2 litres of induced culture. Its molecular mass was 25.7 kDa, as determined by SDS-PAGE in the absence of reducing agent and 24 kDa by gel filtration on a Superdex column. Binding experiments revealed that bPRLR-ECD binds to human (h) GH (hGH) with high affinity, whereas its affinity for ovine (o) or bovine (b) prolactins (PRLs) was lower and for bovine placental lactogen (bPL) very low. The affinity of bPRLR-ECD for the latter three hormones was, however, much higher than that of membrane-embedded or solubilized bPRLR. The stoichiometries of interaction of bPRLR-ECD with hGH, oPRL, bPRL and bPL were determined by gel-filtration chromatography. Even at a 3:1 ECD excess, only 1:1 complexes were detected at microM concentrations of ECD and ligand. At an up to 32-fold dilution, the complexes with oPRL, bPRL, and particularly bPL, underwent progressive dissociation, whereas the complex with hGH remained stable. Although all four hormones exhibited nearly identical activity in the Nb2 lymphoma cell bioassay, the ability of bPRLR-ECD to inhibit hormonal mitogenic activities differed, generally reflecting its affinity for the respective hormones. In view of these and previous results, we suggest that, unlike in the GH:GHR-ECD interaction, neither the stoichiometry of interaction of bovine or other PRLR-ECDs nor the affinity constants can predict the biological potency of the different lactogenic hormones.

Expression and selective inhibition of the constitutive and inducible forms of human cyclo-oxygenase.

The enzyme cyclo-oxygenase catalyses the oxygenation of arachidonic acid, leading to the formation of prostaglandins. Recently two forms of cyclo-oxygenase have been described: a constitutive (COX-1) enzyme present in most cells and tissues, and an inducible (COX-2) isoenzyme observed in many cells in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines. Constitutive and inducible forms of human cyclo-oxygenase (hCOX-1 and hCOX-2) were cloned and expressed in insect cells, utilizing a baculovirus expression system. hCOX-1 had a specific activity of 18.8 mumol of O2/mg with a Km of 13.8 microM for arachidonate and Vmax. of 1500 nmol of O2/nmol of enzyme, whereas hCOX-2 had a specific activity of 12.2 mumol of O2/mg with a Km of 8.7 microM for arachidonate and a Vmax. of 1090 nmol of O2/nmol of enzyme. Indomethacin inhibited both hCOX-1 and hCOX-2, whereas NS-398 and Dup-697 selectively inhibited hCOX-2. Both NS-398 and Dup-697 exhibited time-dependent inactivation of hCOX-2, as did indomethacin on both enzymes. The competitive inhibitor of hCOX-1, mefenamic acid, also displayed competitive inhibition of hCOX-2. These results demonstrate the ability to generate selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which could provide useful improvement therapeutically in the treatment of chronic inflammatory disease.

Molecular cloning and expression of human leukotriene-C4 synthase.

Leukotriene-C4 synthase (LTC4S; EC 2.5.1.37) catalyzes the committed step in the biosynthesis of the peptidoleukotrienes, which are important in the pathogenesis of asthma. Antibodies were generated to a synthetic peptide based on the partial amino acid sequence previously reported for human LTC4S [Nicholson, D.W., Ali, A., Vaillancourt, J.P., Calaycay, J.R., Mumford, R.A., Zamboni, R.J. & Ford-Hutchinson, A. W. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 2015-2019] and specifically bound detergent-solubilized LTC4S obtained from THP-1 cells, confirming that the published sequence is associated with enzyme activity. Inosine-containing oligonucleotides based on the partial protein sequence were used to isolate a 679-bp cDNA for LTC4S from THP-1 cells. The cDNA contains an open reading frame that encodes a 150-amino acid protein (M(r) = 16,568) that has a calculated pI value of 11.1. The deduced protein sequence is composed predominantly of hydrophobic amino acids; hydropathy analysis predicts three transmembrane domains connected by two hydrophilic loops. Analysis of the deduced sequence identified two potential protein kinase C phosphorylation sites and a potential N-linked glycosylation site. The amino acid sequence for human LTC4S is unique and shows no homology to other glutathione S-transferases. LTC4S was found to be most similar to 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (31% identity, 53% similarity), another protein involved in leukotriene biosynthesis. Active enzyme was expressed in bacterial, insect, and mammalian cells as shown by the biosynthesis of LTC4 in incubation mixtures containing LTA4 and reduced glutathione. The cloning and expression of human LTC4S provide the basis for a better understanding of this key enzyme in peptidoleukotriene biosynthesis.