The Lifesciences Magazine

  Source-Lab Manager Gram-negative bacterial infections are challenging to treat because the amphipathic lipopolysaccharides on the outer leaflet of the asymmetric outer membrane bilayer of these bacteria prevent drug entry. Furthermore, since hospitalised and critically ill patients are increasingly experiencing antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria—especially Gram-negative bacteria like Acinetobacter baumannii—is a rapidly growing global health concern. The bacterial cell’s inner membrane is where lipopolysaccharide synthesis takes place. It is then transferred across the cell membrane and assembled in the outer leaflet. Lipopolysaccharides are transported by means of LptB2FGC, an inner membrane subcomplex that uses a protein bridge and the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to extract lipopolysaccharides from the inner membrane and transfer them to the outer membrane. By specifically targeting this transportation c...