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Updated: Oct 9, 2025

In vitro Investigation of the MexAB Efflux Pump From Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Published on: February 17, 2014
Function and Inhibitory Mechanisms of Multidrug Efflux Pumps
Kunihiko Nishino1, Seiji Yamasaki1, Ryosuke Nakashima1
1SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Abstract:
Multidrug efflux pumps are inner membrane transporters that export multiple antibiotics from the inside to the outside of bacterial cells, contributing to bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR). Postgenomic analysis has demonstrated that numerous multidrug efflux pumps exist in bacteria. Also, the co-crystal structural analysis of multidrug efflux pumps revealed the drug recognition and export mechanisms, and the inhibitory mechanisms of the pumps. A single multidrug efflux pump can export multiple antibiotics; hence, developing efflux pump inhibitors is crucial in overcoming infectious diseases caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. This review article describes the role of multidrug efflux pumps in MDR, and their physiological functions and inhibitory mechanisms.
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