Cheng Chen Sciences
Kinetic Constant Determination of Multidrug Efflux Pump
Multidrug efflux pump, which sometimes pumps out almost all of the commonly used antibiotics, plays a major role in bacterial resistance. The design of better antibiotics which will overcome this mechanism will require knowledge of the kinetic behavior of this pumping process. Recently, Cheng participated in a study that determined the kinetic constants for one class of antibiotics, cephalosporins. In this project Cheng will be using other antibiotics as the potential competitor of the cephalosporin flux to develop a more complete understanding of kinetic behavior of the pump. The knowledge of kinetic constants for various antibiotics will allow design of more suitable compounds that will evade the multidrug efflux process and will be effective in the treatment of human infections in the 21st century.