TY - JOUR T1 - Structures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis penicillin-binding protein 3 in complex with five β-lactam antibiotics reveal mechanism of inactivation JF - Molecular Pharmacology JO - Mol Pharmacol DO - 10.1124/mol.119.118042 SP - mol.119.118042 AU - Zuokun Lu AU - Han Wang AU - Aili Zhang AU - Xiang Liu AU - Weihong Zhou AU - Cheng Yang AU - Luke Guddat AU - Haitao Yang AU - Christopher J. Schofield AU - Zihe Rao Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2020/02/20/mol.119.118042.abstract N2 - Due to β-lactamase mediated resistance, β-lactam antibiotics were long considered ineffective drugs for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. However, some β-lactams, including meropenem and faropenem, are being re-evaluated in patients infected with TB. Penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3, or ftsI) is an essential transpeptidase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) required for cell division, thus is an important drug target. Structures of apo MtbPBP3 and of complexes with five β-lactams, including meropenem and faropenem, reveal how they cause inactivation via formation of hydrolytically stable acyl-enzyme complexes. The structures reveal unique features of the antibiotic interactions, both in terms of differences in their binding to MtbPBP3 and in comparison with structures of other PBPs and serine β-lactamases, including the tautomerisation status of the carbapenem derived acyl-enzyme complexes. The results suggest that rather than hoping PBP inhibitors developed for other infections will work against TB, work should focus on developing PBP inhibitors specialized for treating TB.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The structures MtbPBP3, an essential protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in complex with a number of widely used β-lactam antibiotics (e.g. meropenem, aztreonam and amoxicillin) were solved. This data provides new insights for next generation rational approaches to design TB specific β-lactam or non-lactam antibiotics. This manuscript is a seminal article in the field of anti-TB drug discovery and suitable for the broad readership. ER -