The World Health Organization has labeled antimicrobial resistance a global threat because most clinical antibiotics are no longer effective against certain pathogenic bacteria. The Center for Antibiotic Discovery and Resistance at the University of Oklahoma (OU), led by Helen Zgurskaya, Ph.D., and Valentin Rybenkov, Ph.D., is working on finding alternative therapeutic solutions.
Antibiotics work by targeting specific parts of a bacteria cell, such as the cell wall or its DNA. Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics in a number of ways, including by developing efflux pumps—proteins that are located on the surface of the bacteria cell. When an antibiotic enters the cell, the efflux pump pumps it out of the cell before it can reach its target so that the antibiotic is