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Updated: May 9, 2026

Nanomechanics of Drug-target Interactions and Antibacterial Resistance Detection
Published on: October 25, 2013
Targeting metallo-β-lactamase enzymes in antibiotic resistance
Dustin T King1, Natalie C J Strynadka
1Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology & Center for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
Abstract:
The β-lactam antibiotics are essential for the treatment of a wide range of human bacterial diseases. However, a class of zinc-dependent hydrolases known as the metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) can confer bacteria with extended spectrum β-lactam resistance. To date, there are no clinically approved MBL inhibitors, making these enzymes a serious threat to human health. In this review, a structural approach is taken to outline some of the more promising MBL inhibitors and shed light on how the resistance conferred by this emerging class of enzymes may be circumvented in the future.
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