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Microbiology: Current Research | Volume 3
May 20-21, 2019 | Vienna, Austria
Medical Microbiology
4th International Conference on
Identification of new inducing signals of the MdtABC resistance-nodulation-cell divi-
sion multidrug efflux pump
Abi Khattar Z
Lebanese University, Lebanon
One of the most relevant antimicrobial resistance
mechanisms of gram-negative bacterial pathogens
involves active efflux of clinically important agents by
multidrug transporters from the Resistance-nodulation-
cell division (RND) family. Polyselectivity of RND efflux
pumps is of concern for the development of efficient
drugs and inhibitors that act against the functioning and/
or expression of these transporters. Using an in vivoinsect
infection model and reporter gene technology coupled to
an ex vivo approach, we showed that the entomopathogenic
enterobacteria Photorhabdus luminescens highly induce
the expression of the MdtABC efflux pump in a tissue-
specific manner and in response to proteolysis by-products
during late infection stages. We are currently working on
purifying such signal molecules. These findings provide a
new evidence that interference with bacterial virulence and/
or signal transduction pathways is an especially compelling
approach, as it is thought to apply less selective pressure
for the development of bacterial resistance than traditional
strategies, which are aimed at killing bacteria or preventing
their growth. They should also pave the rational development
of an improved new generation of efflux pump inhibitors that
can competitively repress RND pumps expression rather than
their blockage in order to overcome multidrug-resistance in
gram-negative bacteria.
Speaker Biography
Abi Khattar Z has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years from
University of Montpellier, France and Saint Joseph University, Beirut,
Lebanon. He is a research associate professor in microbiology/
parasitology and the coordinator of the master program in applied
microbiology at the Faculty of Science of the Lebanese University. He
has just founded his own research team in microbiology in the L2GE
laboratory where he is co supervising two PhD theses in collaboration
with research teams from “INRA” and “CNRS” in Montpellier and Paris-
Orsay in France. He has over 4 publications that have been cited over 90
times, and his publication H-index is 3.
e:
Abi Khattar Z, Microbiol Curr Res, Volume 3
DOI: 10.4066/2591-8036-C1-005