Abstract
It is well established that multidrug-resistance efflux pumps encoded by bacteria can confer clinically relevant resistance to antibiotics. It is now understood that these efflux pumps also have a physiological role(s). They can confer resistance to natural substances produced by the host, including bile, hormones and host-defence molecules. In addition, some efflux pumps of the resistance nodulation division (RND) family have been shown to have a role in the colonization and the persistence of bacteria in the host. Here, I present the accumulating evidence that multidrug-resistance efflux pumps have roles in bacterial pathogenicity and propose that these pumps therefore have greater clinical relevance than is usually attributed to them.
MeSH terms
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ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / physiology
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Bacteria / pathogenicity*
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Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / physiology
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Bacterial Physiological Phenomena*
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Bacterial Proteins / physiology
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Carrier Proteins / physiology
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Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / physiology*
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Escherichia coli Proteins / physiology
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Membrane Transport Proteins / physiology
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Microbial Sensitivity Tests
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Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins / genetics*
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Virulence / physiology
Substances
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ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
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AcrAB-TolC protein, Salmonella enterica
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Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
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Bacterial Proteins
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Carrier Proteins
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Escherichia coli Proteins
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Membrane Transport Proteins
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MexA protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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MexB protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins
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tolC protein, E coli