Beta-lactam antibiotic resistance: a current structural perspective.

Bacterial resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics can be achieved by any of three strategies: the production of beta-lactam-hydrolyzing beta-lactamase enzymes, the utilization of beta-lactam-insensitive cell wall transpeptidases, and the active expulsion of beta-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 beta-lactam resistance in the future.