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Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (생화학분자생물학회)
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AcrAB-TolC, a major efflux pump in Gram negative bacteria: toward understanding its operation mechanism

  • Soojin Jang (Department of Discovery Biology, Antibacterial Resistance Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea)
  • Received : 2023.04.16
  • Accepted : 2023.05.30
  • Published : 2023.06.30
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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a silent pandemic that kills millions worldwide. Although the development of new therapeutic agents against antibiotic resistance is in urgent demand, this has presented a great challenge, especially for Gram-negative bacteria that have inherent drug-resistance mediated by impermeable outer membranes and multidrug efflux pumps that actively extrude various drugs from the bacteria. For the last two decades, multidrug efflux pumps, including AcrAB-TolC, the most clinically important efflux pump in Gram-negative bacteria, have drawn great attention as strategic targets for re-sensitizing bacteria to the existing antibiotics. This article aims to provide a concise overview of the AcrAB-TolC operational mechanism, reviewing its architecture and substrate specificity, as well as the recent development of AcrAB-TolC inhibitors.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2020K1A4A7A02095129/2023M3A9G6057281 to S.J.).

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