Assembly and operation of bacterial tripartite multidrug efflux pumps.
Microorganisms encode several classes of transmembrane pumps that can expel an enormous range of toxic substances, thereby improving their fitness in harsh environments and contributing to resistance against antimicrobial agents. In Gram-negative bacteria these pumps can take the form of tripartite assemblies that actively efflux drugs and other harmful compounds across the cell envelope. We describe recent structural and functional data that have provided insights into the transport mechanisms of these intricate molecular machines.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK.
Dijun
D
Du
Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK.
Hendrik W
HW
van Veen
Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK. Electronic address: bfl20@cam.ac.uk.
Ben F
BF
Luisi
D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000378:metabolism; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation
D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins
drug resistance; membrane proteins; transport mechanism