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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Alexander Egan
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© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is a crucial permeability barrier allowing the cells to survive a myriad of toxic compounds, including many antibiotics. This innate form of antibiotic resistance is compounded by the evolution of more active mechanisms of resistance such as efflux pumps, reducing the already limited number of clinically relevant treatments for Gram-negative pathogens. During cell division Gram-negative bacteria must coordinate constriction of the outer membrane in conjunction with other crucial layers of the cell envelope, the peptidoglycan cell wall and the inner membrane. Coordination is crucial in maintaining structural integrity of the envelope, and represents a highly vulnerable time for the cell as any failure can be fatal, if not least disadvantageous. However, the molecular mechanisms of cell division and how the biogenesis of the three layers is synchronised during constriction remain largely unknown. Perturbations of the outer membrane have been shown to increase the effectiveness of antibiotics in vitro, and so with improved understanding of this process we may be able to exploit this vulnerability and improve the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments. In this review the current knowledge of how Gram-negative bacteria facilitate constriction of their outer membranes during cell division will be discussed.
Author(s): Egan AJF
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Molecular Microbiology
Year: 2018
Volume: 107
Issue: 6
Pages: 676-687
Print publication date: 01/03/2018
Online publication date: 08/01/2018
Acceptance date: 03/01/2018
ISSN (print): 0950-382X
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2958
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.13908
DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13908
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