Recent Advances in Efflux Pump Inhibitors and Their Role in Combatting Multidrug Resistance
A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanism and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 274
Special Issue Editors
Interests: clinical bacteriology; antibiotic resistance; multidrug efflux
Interests: efflux systems of pathogenic bacteria; efflux pump inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antibiotic resistance poses an increasing challenge in modern medicine. Efflux pumps play a crucial role in bacterial resistance by expelling antibiotics out of the cells, thereby reducing their efficacy. Efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) offer a promising solution to counteract this mechanism, enhancing the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. This Special Issue aims to gather the latest research on EPIs, focusing on molecular mechanisms, novel inhibitors, clinical applications, and resistance patterns.
Efflux pumps contribute significantly to bacterial multidrug resistance via various mechanisms, including biofilm formation and horizontal gene transfer. Recent studies have highlighted novel EPIs and their potential applications:
- New Efflux Systems: A novel major facilitator superfamily (MFS)-type tripartite efflux system, CprABC, was identified in Chryseobacterium PL22-22A, which mediates resistance to polymyxins. The flavonoid compound baicalin showed EPI activity against this system, highlighting new avenues for combatting resistance in Gram-negative bacteria;
- Biofilm Inhibition: Efflux pumps have a dual role in biofilm formation, contributing to both the establishment and maintenance of biofilms. EPIs targeting these pumps have shown effectiveness in disrupting biofilm-related infections, providing new strategies for treating chronic infections associated with medical devices;
- RND Efflux Pump Inhibitors: Synthetic inhibitors targeting RND efflux pumps, such as MexB and AcrB, have demonstrated significant potential in restoring antibiotic efficacy. These inhibitors work by targeting the expression, assembly, or activity of the efflux pump complexes;
- Clinical Applications: EPIs have shown promise in reducing antibiotic resistance in clinical settings. Recent advancements include the development of compounds that enhance the susceptibility of multidrug-resistant bacteria to existing antibiotics, thereby extending the life span of current antimicrobial therapies.
Contributions of Previous Special Issue: The previous Special Issue, "The Role of Efflux Pump Inhibitors in Bacterial Multidrug Resistance", successfully published five articles out of seven submissions. These articles have, collectively, been viewed over 10,000 times and cited 19 times, indicating strong interest and impact in the research community. The first edition published 10 papers, further establishing the importance of this research area.
Research on EPIs remains critical for addressing multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. The findings published in this Special Issue will contribute significantly to the development of new therapeutic strategies and the enhancement of antibiotic efficacy.
Dr. László Orosz
Dr. Spengler Gabriella
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- multidrug resistance
- multidrug efflux pump
- efflux pump inhibitor (EPI)
- accumulation assay
- efflux assay
- fluorochromes
- ethidium bromide
- quorum sensing
- biofilm
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