Microbiology news and views
J. Mol. Micro. Biotechnol. 3: 215-218
AcrAB and Related Multidrug Efflux Pumps of Escherichia coli
Hiroshi Nikaido and Helen I. Zgurskaya
The AcrAB system of Escherichia coli is a multidrug efflux system composed of an RND-type transporter
AcrB and a periplasmic accessory protein AcrA, and pumps out a wide variety of lipophilic and amphiphilic
inhibitors directly into the medium, presumably through the TolC outer membrane channel. AcrA, a highly
elongated protein, is thought to bring the outer and inner membranes closer. It forms a trimer that interacts with a
monomeric AcrB, which was shown by in vitro reconstitution to be a proton antiporter. Details of interaction between
the AcrAB complex and TolC remain a major topic for study.
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