Tackling the Outer Membrane: Facilitating Compound Entry into Gram-negative Bacterial Pathogens

Overview

Journal NPJ Antimicrob Resist

Publisher Nature Portfolio

Date 2025 Jan 22

PMID 39843585

Authors

Deepanshi Saxena

Rahul Maitra

Rakhi Bormon

Marta Czekanska

Joscha Meiers

Alexander Titz

Sandeep Verma

Sidharth Chopra

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Emerging resistance to all available antibiotics highlights the need to develop new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action. Most of the currently used antibiotics target Gram-positive bacteria while Gram-negative bacteria easily bypass the action of most drug molecules because of their unique outer membrane. This additional layer acts as a potent barrier restricting the entry of compounds into the cell. In this scenario, several approaches have been elucidated to increase the accumulation of compounds into Gram-negative bacteria. This review includes a brief description of the physicochemical properties that can aid compounds to enter and accumulate in Gram-negative bacteria and covers different strategies to target or bypass the outer membrane-mediated barrier in Gram-negative bacterial pathogens.

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