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Antimicrobial Resistance

bacteria have evolved powerful defenses against antibiotics

Since the discovery of penicillin, researchers have developed better and better antibiotics to fight microbial infection. Bacteria, in turn, have evolved more and more effective ways of resisting these drugs: by destroying them, by pumping them out, or by modifying the target of the drug. Atomic structures help us understand resistance to antibiotics and develop new ways to fight infection.

Molecule of the Month Articles (9)

Aminoglycoside Antibiotics

Aminoglycoside Antibiotics and Resistance

Dihydrofolate Reductase

Multidrug Resistance Transporters

	Aminoglycoside Antibiotics Antibiotic-resistant bacteria build enzymes that destroy drugs like streptomycin
	Aminoglycoside Antibiotics and Resistance Bacteria become resistant to aminoglycosides by destroying them or changing their target.
	Dihydrofolate Reductase DHFR is a target for cancer chemotherapy and bacterial infection
	Multidrug Resistance Transporters Many bacteria use multidrug resistance transporters to pump drugs and poisons out of the cell
	New Delhi Metallo-Beta-Lactamase Antibiotics can save lives, but antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria pose a dangerous threat
	Penicillin-binding Proteins Penicillin attacks the proteins that build bacterial cell walls
	Ribosome Ribosomes are complex molecular machines that build proteins
	Tetrahydrobiopterin Biosynthesis Tetrahydrobiopterin plays an essential role in the production of aromatic amino acids, neurotransmitters and nitric oxide.
	Vancomycin The antibiotic vancomycin blocks the construction of bacterial cell walls.

Learning Resources (12)

Antibiotics in Action

(Flyer)

2018 Calendar: Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance

(Calendar)

2016 A Year in Protein-Drug Complexes

(Calendar)

How do Drugs Work?

(Flyer)

	Antibiotics in Action Flyer Shown are some classes of antibiotics and their target protein/molecule organized by the biochemical pathway they interrupt.
	2018 Calendar: Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance Calendar Antibiotics have saved countless lives, but pathogens are quickly finding ways to survive antibiotic treatment. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are predicted to become the leading cause of death worldwide, with an expected death rate of 10 million people annually by 2050. They take many approaches: pumping antibiotics out of their cells, altering the molecular machinery that the antibiotics target, and attacking the antibiotics directly. Atomic structures publicly available in the PDB are revealing the details of drug resistance and providing new ways to combat it.
	2016 A Year in Protein-Drug Complexes Calendar PDB structures allow us to see how drugs bind to their protein targets in exquisite detail. Available as a PDF and PowerPoint.
	How do Drugs Work? Flyer PDB structures are used to discuss antibiotics and antivirals, chemotherapy, drug metabolism, drugs of signaling proteins, and lifestyle drugs.
	Superbugs! How Bacteria Evolve Resistance to Antibiotics Poster Antibiotics are one of the miracles of modern medicine, allowing us to fight infection by pathogenic bacteria. Antibiotics attack essential molecular machines in bacteria, stopping or slowing their action and ultimately killing the cell.
	How Do Drugs Work? Poster PDB structures are used to discuss antibiotics and antivirals, chemotherapy, drug metabolism, drugs of signaling proteins, and lifestyle drugs.
	Penicillin and Antibiotic Resistance Video Since its discovery in 1928, penicillin and penicillin-related antibiotics helped save countless lives from bacterial infections. However, in the face of overuse and misuse of antibiotics, bacteria evolved resistance mechanisms that allow them to proliferate even in the presence of the newest antibiotics.
	Staphylococcus aureus and Antibiotic Resistance Video How penicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics work and what mechanisms the resistant bacteria use it to evade them.
	2019 Mechanisms of Bacterial Resistance to Aminoglycoside Antibiotics Video
	2018 Bacterial Resistance to Beta-lactam Antibiotics Video For the fifth year, RCSB PDB invited high school students to tell molecular stories in video. This year's challenge focused on the molecular mechanisms behind bacterial resistance to Beta-lactam antibiotics
	Superbugs! Bacteria Evolve Resistance to Antibiotics Interactive Antibiotics are one of the miracles of modern medicine, allowing us to fight infection by pathogenic bacteria. Explore how antibiotics attack essential molecular machines in bacteria with this interactive animation.
	Bound! Protein-drug matching game Other Resource Bound! is a card game for students 12 and up, where players compete to match the most drugs to their protein targets.

Structural Biology Highlights (3)

Antibiotics and Ribosome Function

NDM-1 and Antibiotics

Superbugs and Antibiotic Resistance

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