Rapid Detection of Superbugs by Specific Enzyme Identification from jakemiller's blog

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a key problem currently facing the world. Therefore, there is a great need to develop specific methods to selectively identify drug-resistant bacteria. It has been found that one of their main defense mechanisms for developing antibiotic resistance is the production of resistant enzymes such as β-lactamases (Blas). For drug-resistant bacteria, we need not only to investigate novel antibiotics that target Blas, but also to develop new enzyme assays to identify superbugs.

Some pathogenic bacteria have developed significant resistance to antibiotics due to the progressive development of drug-resistant enzymes. Blas are hydrolytic enzymes that destroy antibiotics further rendering the drugs ineffective. Nearly 3000 Blas have been identified. Depending on the type of substrate, these enzymes can be classified as penicillinases, cephalosporinases, ultra-broad-spectrum β-lactamases and carbapenemases. As these types of enzymes continue to emerge, methods for selective and specific detection of enzymes have been developed and have become important diagnostic tools for the detection and monitoring of drug-resistant bacteria.

Learn more：bacterial resistance genes pcr assays