Which resistance mechanism allows bacteria to pump antibiotics out of the cell?
Efflux-mediated resistance represents highly efficient active extrusion mechanism driven by transmembrane energy gradients. Bacterial multidrug efflux systems belong to five major families: resistance-nodulation-division RND such as AcrAB-TolC tripartite pump in Escherichia coli and MexAB-OprM in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, major facilitator superfamily MFS such as TetA for tetracycline, multidrug and toxic compound extrusion MATE, small multidrug resistance SMR and ATP-binding cassette ABC transporters using ATP hydrolysis rather than proton motive force. These pumps capture antibiotics from peri
Ref: Lodish et al., Molecular Cell Biology, 8th ed., Chapter 15: Bacterial Efflux Pumps and Drug Resistance.
