Antibiotic Substrate Selectivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa MexY and MexB Efflux Systems Is Determined by a Goldilocks Affinity.

ABSTRACT: Resistance-nodulation-division (RND) efflux pumps are important contributors to bacterial antibiotic resistance. In this study, we combined evolutionary sequence analyses, computational structural modeling, and ligand docking to develop a framework that can explain the known antibiotic substrate selectivity differences between two Pseudomonas aeruginosa RND transporters, MexY and MexB. For efficient efflux, antibiotic substrates must possess a "Goldilocks affinity": binding strong enough to allow interaction with transporter but not so tight as to impede movement through the pump.

SUBMITTER: Dey D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7526836 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature