[Efflux pumps: their role in Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance]
A Doléans-Jordheim1, S Michalet, E Bergeron
1Laboratoire de microbiologie, Unité RTI2B UP SP 2007.03.135, ISPB, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Lyon. anne.jordheim@recherche.univ-lyon1.fr
Abstract:
Efflux pumps located in the bacterial membranes are responsible for low level resistance to antibiotics, considered not to be relevant in the clinic and thus often neglected. However, these pumps contribute to the emergence of high level antibiotic resistance mechanisms, which are responsible for severe complications during the treatment of infectious diseases. Therefore it is necessary to take into account these pumps while developing novel antibacterial agents. Among these new research strategies, the development of efflux pump inhibitors seems to be an attractive approach to restore the activity of some "classical" antibiotics and to limit the emergence of multiresistant strains associated with hospital-acquired infections. In this review, we focalise on Staphylococcus aureus efflux pumps and their potential inhibitors.
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