Efflux Pumps in Bacteria: What They Do and How We Can Stop Them, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Antibiofilm Strategies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editor
Interests: medicinal chemistry; organic chemistry; chemical biology; antibiotics; antiviral agents; anticancer agents; efflux pump inhibitors; polymerase inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing risk for our global health, jeopardizing our lifestyle and the world economy. Among different mechanisms by which AMR can develop, efflux pumps play a central role. Indeed, microbial efflux pumps can contribute to AMR by extruding noxious agents, such as antibacterials, from the cytoplasm, thus reducing the antibacterial effect. Accordingly, this decrease in antimicrobials inside the bacterial cells can promote the development of more specific mechanisms of resistance, such as target modification or antibiotic-modifying or -degrading enzymes. In addition, microbial efflux pumps have been identified as important players in the formation of biofilm, as well as in the complex signaling mechanism called quorum sensing. Therefore, the identification of new non-antibiotic molecules able to block microbial efflux pumps represents a promising approach to fight AMR. Indeed, efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) have the potential to synergize with common antibiotics that are efflux pump substrates, thus restoring their antibacterial effect. In addition, EPIs could reduce the development of resistance by (i) preventing the first nonspecific extrusion of antibiotics, (ii) reducing biofilm formation, and (iii) modulating quorum sensing.
This Special Issue aims to present high-quality reviews and original papers aiming to enrich our knowledge about microbial efflux pumps, their role in the development of AMR, and strategies to block them by EPI molecules.
Dr. Tommaso Felicetti
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- new antibiotics
- bioactive medicinal agents
- classes of antibiotics
- antibiotic resistance and misuse
- natural antibiotics
- microbial efflux pumps
- efflux pump inhibitors
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