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Efflux-Mediated Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria pp 439–469Cite as

Efflux Pumps in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Contributions to Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence

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Abstract

This chapter deals with the structure-function relationships, genetics, gene regulation systems, and clinical/biologic significance of efflux pumps expressed by the sexually transmitted human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The overarching theme emphasized herein is that bacterial efflux pumps contribute not only to the ability of N. gonorrhoeae to evade many antibiotics in current or past treatment regimens for gonorrhea but they also help this pathogen to evade antimicrobials that contribute to innate host defense during infection. Accordingly, gonococcal drug efflux pumps should be viewed not only in the context of their capacity to negatively impact antimicrobial therapies but in the larger picture as virulence factors that promote survival of N. gonorrhoeae during infection. Based on this hypothesis, we posit that strategies that cripple gonococcal efflux pump activities may prove useful in the design of new therapies, which is of special importance in this era when antibiotic-based treatment options for gonorrhea are dwindling due to mechanisms of bacterial resistance that include the action of drug efflux pumps.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all past and present members of our laboratories and our collaborators who have contributed significantly to the work reviewed herein. We are grateful to V. Bavro for communicating information regarding the mtrE sequence of N. gonorrhoeae. This work was supported by NIH grants R37 AI021150 (W.M.S.), R01 AI114629 (E.W.Y.), RO1 AI42053 (A.E.J.), and U19 AI113170 (A.E.J.) and funds from the Örebro County Council Research Committee and the Foundation for Medical Research at Örebro University Hospital, Sweden (M.U.). W.M.S. is the recipient of a Senior Research Career Scientist Award from the Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The contents of this chapter do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, or the US government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    William M. Shafer & Corinne Rouquette-Loughlin

  2. Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    William M. Shafer

  3. Laboratories of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA

    William M. Shafer & Corinne Rouquette-Loughlin

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Edward W. Yu

  5. Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Edward W. Yu

  6. WHO Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and Other STIs, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

    Daniel Golparian & Magnus Unemo

  7. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, F. Edward Hèbert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Ann E. Jerse

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  1. William M. Shafer
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Correspondence to William M. Shafer .

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  1. Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Xian-Zhi Li

  2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Laurel, Maryland, USA

    Christopher A. Elkins

  3. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Helen I. Zgurskaya

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Shafer, W.M., Yu, E.W., Rouquette-Loughlin, C., Golparian, D., Jerse, A.E., Unemo, M. (2016). Efflux Pumps in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Contributions to Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence. In: Li, XZ., Elkins, C., Zgurskaya, H. (eds) Efflux-Mediated Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39658-3_17

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