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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Nanomechanics of Drug-target Interactions and Antibacterial Resistance Detection
Published on: October 25, 2013
Mechanisms of resistance of enterococci to beta-lactam antibiotics
R Fontana1, P Canepari, M M Lleò
1Istituto di Microbiologia, Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy.
Abstract:
Two mechanisms are responsible for resistance of enterococci to beta-lactam antibiotics: alterations of penicillin-binding proteins and production of a beta-lactamase. The latter has been found in a few clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis, whereas the former appears to account for resistance in most strains. A correlation has been established between the amount of a particular penicillin-binding protein which has a low affinity for penicillin and the level of resistance. The higher activity of some penicillins, as compared to cephalosporins, has been related to the relatively higher affinity for these penicillins of the penicillin-binding protein involved in the mechanism of resistance. Alterations in the autolytic enzyme pattern have been associated with the paradoxical response to bactericidal activity of penicillin often exhibited by Enterococcus faecalis clinical isolates.
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