Lipid remodelling: does it play a role in antibiotic resistance?

进入世纪，抗菌药物耐药性已成为全球公共卫生的严重威胁。耐药微生物能够在常规药物治疗中存活，导致持续感染。新的耐药机制不断出现，了解这些机制如何工作至关重要。在该项目中，正在研究脂质膜双层，这是抵抗抗菌剂的第一道屏障。抗微生物剂耐药性的可能机制是膜脂质的重塑。细菌重塑其膜脂质组成，以响应不断变化的环境刺激，如营养物质的可用性。据推测，脂质重塑可能导致抗生素运输的变化，可能是由于蛋白质组成的改变。寄生性细菌病原体如假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas spp.）洋葱伯克霍尔德氏菌复合体的成员具有高度抗性，并含有脂质重塑所需的主要磷脂酶。使用这些模式生物，抗菌素耐药性和脂质重塑之间的联系将进行调查。

In the 21st century, antimicrobial resistance has become a serious threat to global public health. Resistant microbes are able to survive routine medical treatment, resulting in persistent infections. New resistance mechanisms are constantly emerging and it is vital to understand how these mechanisms work. In this project, the lipid membrane bilayer is under investigation, which is the first barrier of defence against antimicrobials. A possible mechanism of antimicrobial resistance is the remodelling of membrane lipids. Bacteria remodel their membrane lipid composition in response to changing environmental stimuli, such as nutrient availability. It is hypothesised that lipid remodelling could result in changes to antibiotic trafficking, possibly due to modifications in the protein composition. Opportunistic bacterial pathogens such as Pseudomonas spp. and members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex are highly resistant and contain the main phospholipase enzyme required for lipid remodelling. Using these model organisms, the link between antimicrobial resistance and lipid remodelling will be investigated.