Addressing MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections by enhanced antibiotic uptake

A hospital patient’s infection turns deadly not because the antibiotic is weak, but because it cannot get past the bacterium’s outer defences. This project develops ways to force antibiotics through the protective outer membrane of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria, which cause infections in roughly 9% of UK acute-care patients and contribute to death in about 3% of those infected. The core problem is that these bacteria have evolved a triple barrier: an outer membrane that blocks many drugs, a compartment of enzymes that degrade antibiotics, and pumps that eject drugs from the cell. The researchers are testing new technologies that enhance antibiotic uptake across this membrane, aiming to restore the effectiveness of existing drugs against infections that currently have few or no treatment options. If successful, the work could extend the usable life of current antibiotics, buying time against a growing crisis where routine surgeries, cancer chemotherapy, and childbirth become riskier due to untreatable infections. This is applied research with a clear practical target—not fundamental science—and its impact would be felt directly in hospital wards.