Thomas Parr - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Thomas Parr

New Approaches for Antifungal Drugs, 1992

Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 1987

Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 1993

Eight Serratia strains and several members of the Enterobacteriaceae family were used in immunobl... more Eight Serratia strains and several members of the Enterobacteriaceae family were used in immunoblot and Southern DNA hybridization experiments and probed with antibody and DNA probes specific for the 41-kDa Serratia marcescens porin, to determine the extent of homology between Gram-negative porins. Immunoblot analyses performed using porin-specific rabbit sera and cell envelope preparations from these strains revealed that all strains produced at least one cross-reactive protein in the 41-kDa molecular weight range. Chromosomal DNA from each of the same strains was used in Southern analyses, probed with a 20-base-length oligonucleotide probe deduced from the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 41-kDa Serratia marcescens porin. The probe hybridized to DNA from all of the Serratia species and six of the nine other enteric bacteria. Putative porin proteins from all the Serratia species were subjected to N-terminal amino acid sequencing and porin functional analysis using the black lipid bilayer method. All amino acid sequences were identical, with one exception in which an asparagine was substituted for an aspartic acid in Serratia rubidaea. All porins had very similar porin function (single channel conductance ranging between 1.72 and 2.00 nS). The results from this study revealed that a strong conservation exists among the Serratia porins and those produced by other enteric bacteria.

ACS chemical biology, Jan 5, 2016

Avibactam is a diazabicyclooctane β-lactamase inhibitor possessing outstanding but incomplete eff... more Avibactam is a diazabicyclooctane β-lactamase inhibitor possessing outstanding but incomplete efficacy against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens in combination with β-lactam antibiotics. Significant pharmaceutical investment in generating derivatives of avibactam warrants a thorough characterization of their activity. We show here through structural and kinetic analysis that select diazabicyclooctane deriv-atives display effective but varied inhibition of two clinically-important β-lactamases (CTX-M-15, and OXA-48). Furthermore, these deriva-tives exhibit considerable antimicrobial activity (MIC ≤ 2μg/mL) against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enter-obacter spp. Imaging of cell phenotype along with structural and biochemical experiments unambiguously demonstrate that this activity, in E. coli, is a result of targeting penicillin-binding protein 2. Our results suggest that structure-activity relationship studies for the purpose of drug di...

Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1993

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 1990

The mechanism of persistence was characterized in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained ten da... more The mechanism of persistence was characterized in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained ten days before (4405), on the tenth day of (4419), and four days after (4478) ciprofloxacin therapy in a cystic fibrosis patient. Isolate 4419 showed a 16-fold increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and nalidixic acid. The outer membrane of 4419 had no detectable protein F. A modified lipopolysaccharide profile, a longer lag phase before growth and a slower generation time were also noted for isolate 4419. Cell surface hydrophobicity was increased by 20% in 4419 whereas uptake of [14C]ciprofloxacin was equivalent in all three isolates. Ciprofloxacin doses causing 50% inhibition of DNA synthesis were proportional to MICs for each isolate indicating that the DNA gyrase of 4419 was resistant to quinolones. A quinolone-susceptible revertant of 4419 remained deficient in protein F. Protein F-deficiency was not associated with resistance to quinolones, nor to other antibiotics, supporting the view that it plays little role in outer membrane permeability to antibiotics.

Infection and Immunity, 2003

Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 1984

The lipopolysaccharides of three strains of Haemophilus influenzae with varying beta-lactam susce... more The lipopolysaccharides of three strains of Haemophilus influenzae with varying beta-lactam susceptibility were examined. All three strains contained galactose, glucose, galactosamine, glucosamine, heptose, phosphate, and a trace of mannose. None contained fucose, rhamnose, or mannosamine. Levels of 2-keto-3-deoxy-octulosonic acid were consistently detected in all three strains at levels similar to that of Salmonella typhimurium LT2, but only following hydrolysis with 4 N hydrochloric acid.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2001

A noninvasive, real-time detection technology was validated for qualitative and quantitative anti... more A noninvasive, real-time detection technology was validated for qualitative and quantitative antimicrobial treatment applications. The lux gene cluster of Photorhabdus luminescens was introduced into an Escherichia coli clinical isolate, EC14, on a multicopy plasmid. This bioluminescent reporter bacterium was used to study antimicrobial effects in vitro and in vivo, using the neutropenic-mouse thigh model of infection. Bioluminescence was monitored and measured in vitro and in vivo with an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera system, and these results were compared to viable-cell determinations made using conventional plate counting methods. Statistical analysis demonstrated that in the presence or absence of antimicrobial agents (ceftazidime, tetracycline, or ciprofloxacin), a strong correlation existed between bioluminescence levels and viable cell counts in vitro and in vivo. Evaluation of antimicrobial agents in vivo could be reliably performed with either method, as each was a sound indicator of therapeutic success. Dose-dependent responses could also be detected in the neutropenic-mouse thigh model by using either bioluminescence or viable-cell counts as a marker. In addition, the ICCD technology was examined for the benefits of repeatedly monitoring the same animal during treatment studies. The ability to repeatedly measure the same animals reduced variability within the treatment experiments and allowed equal or greater confidence in determining treatment efficacy. This technology could reduce the number of animals used during such studies and has applications for the evaluation of test compounds during drug discovery.