Download or read book An Antibiotic Binds to the ATPase that Powers Lipopolysaccharide Transport written by Janine Margaret May and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The spread of antibiotic resistance has created an urgent need for new antibiotics. The situation is particularly serious for Gram-negative bacteria because they possess an outer membrane (OM) that prevents many antibiotics from entering the cell. The outer leaflet of the OM is composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a complex glycolipid that is critical for creating this permeability barrier. In Escherichia coli, seven LPS transport (Lpt) proteins move LPS from its site of synthesis to the cell surface. Compounds that disrupt LPS transport could either kill Gram-negative bacteria directly or sensitize them to other antibiotics. There are currently no antibiotics that target the Lpt pathway.