Carbapenem Use Is Driving the Evolution of Imipenemase 1 Variants

Metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) are a growing clinical threat because they inactivate nearly all beta-lactam-containing antibiotics, and there are no clinically available inhibitors. A significant number of variants have already emerged for each MBL subfamily. To understand the evolution of imipenemase (IMP) genes (bla(IMP)) and their clinical impact, 20 clinically derived IMP-1 like variants were obtained using site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in a uniform genetic background in Escherichia coli strain DH10B. Strains of IMP-1-like variants harboring S262G or V67F substitutions exhibited increased resistance toward carbapenems and decreased resistance toward ampicillin. Strains expressing IMP-78 (S262G/V67F) exhibited the largest changes in MIC values compared to IMP-1. In order to understand the molecular mechanisms of increased resistance, biochemical, biophysical, and molecular modeling studies were conducted to compare IMP-1, IMP-6 (S262G), IMP-10 (V67F), and IMP-78 (S262G/V67F). Finally, unlike most New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) and Verona integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM) variants, the IMP-1-like variants do not confer any additional survival advantage if zinc availability is limited. Therefore, the evolution of MBL subfamilies (i.e., IMP-6, -10, and -78) appears to be driven by different selective pressures.

Automated summary

Metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) are a growing clinical threat as they inactivate most beta-lactam antibiotics. Variants of the IMP-1 gene exhibit increased resistance to carbapenems but do not confer additional survival advantage in limited zinc availability. Evolution of MBL subfamilies like IMP-6, -10, and -78 appears to be driven by different selective pressures.