β-Lactam antibiotic resistance: a current structural perspective

Bacterial resistance to β-lactam antibiotics can be achieved by any of three strategies: the production of β-lactam-hydrolyzing β-lactamase enzymes, the utilization of β-lactam-insensitive cell wall transpeptidases, and the active expulsion of β-lactam molecules from Gram-negative cells by way of efflux pumps. In recent years, structural biology has contributed significantly to the understanding of these processes and should prove invaluable in the design of drugs to combat β-lactam resistance in the future.