Characterisation of the selective binding of antibiotics vancomycin and teicoplanin by the VanS receptor regulating type A vancomycin resistance in the enterococci

A-type resistance towards “last-line” glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin in the leading hospital acquired infectious agent, the enterococci, is the most common in the UK. Resistance is regulated by the VanR(A)S(A) two-component system, comprising the histidine sensor kinase VanS(A) and the partner response regulator VanR(A). The nature of the activating ligand for VanS(A) has not been identified, therefore this work sought to identify and characterise ligand(s) for VanS(A). In vitro approaches were used to screen the structural and activity effects of a range of potential ligands with purified VanS(A) protein. Of the screened ligands (glycopeptide antibiotics vancomycin and teicoplanin, and peptidoglycan components N-acetylmuramic acid, D-Ala-D-Ala and Ala-D-y-Glu-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala) only glycopeptide antibiotics vancomycin and teicoplanin were found to bind VanS(A) with different affinities (vancomycin 70 μM; teicoplanin 30 and 170 μM), and were proposed to bind via exposed aromatic residues tryptophan and tyrosine. Furthermore, binding of the antibiotics induced quicker, longer-lived phosphorylation states for VanS(A), proposing them as activators of type A vancomycin resistance in the enterococci.