The Importance of the Cpx Stress Response Pathway to Mecillinam Resistance in Escherichia Coli

Open Access
- Author:
- Sievers, Mary E
- Area of Honors:
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Sarah Ellen Ades, Thesis Supervisor
Craig Eugene Cameron, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Stress Responses
Cpx Stress Response Pathway
Mecillinam
Antibiotic Resistance
B-Lactam Antibiotics
Escherichia Coli - Abstract:
- Various stress responses in gram-negative bacteria are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the cell envelope and have been linked to the resistance of E. coli to β-lactam antibiotics. One of these pathways is the Cpx stress response pathway. The peptidoglycan layer is a single molecule that completely surrounds the cell and ensures its structural integrity, and during cell growth, new peptidoglycan subunits are incorporated into the peptidoglycan layer by PBP enzymes. Though it has been shown that inhibition of certain penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) by β-lactam antibiotics activates expression of stress responses, little research has been done to specifically link the mechanisms of these stress responses to intrinsic antibiotic resistance. Through comparison of the level of antibiotic resistance of mutant, resistant strains of E. coli with and without a functioning form of the Cpx stress response pathway, the significance of this pathway in resistance to β-lactam antibiotics, specifically mecillinam, was analyzed. The plague of antibiotic resistance is outpacing the attempts to combat it, and even newly developed, novel antibiotics have the potential to be rendered useless through adaptation of resistance of pathogenic bacteria. Further understanding of the mechanisms and pathways that lead to antibiotic resistance will give tremendous insight in the future prevention and control of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.