Drown Them in Their Own Garbage: a New Strategy To Reverse Polymyxin Resistance?

• Authors: Kerrie L May, Emory University
• Journal Title: JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
• Volume: Volume 204, Number 2
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology | 2022-02-01
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00574-21
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Microbiology
• Keywords: antibiotic resistance; Gram-negative bacteria; lipopolysaccharide; membranes; mobile colistin resistance; polymyxins

Abstract

Purcell and colleagues offer new insights into a major mechanism of polymyxin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria (A. B. Purcell, B. J. Voss, and M. S. Trent, J Bacteriol 204:e00498-21, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00498-21). Inactivating a single lipid recycling enzyme causes accumulation of waste lipid by-products that inhibit a key factor responsible for polymyxin resistance.