Evolution of metallo-β-lactamases: A journey from the test tube to the bacterial periplasm

Speaker

Alejandro Vila
Professor, University of Rosario

Alejandro Vila is a professor of biophysics at the University of Rosario, Argentina, and group leader at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology of Rosario (CONICET). Trained as an NMR spectroscopist, his research interests moved to the role of metalloproteins in antimicrobial resistance and their physiology in the bacterial periplasm. His group is a world leader in the study of metallo-β-lactamases, encompassing structural and mechanistic studies, inhibitor design and protein evolution. During the last decade, his efforts have been devoted to filling the gap between in vitro studies and the life cycle, evolution and activity of metallo-β-lactamases in the bacterial periplasm.

The ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar series offers a window into the cutting-edge biochemistry and molecular biology research driving discovery.

This month's webinar focuses on metallo-β-lactamases. Antimicrobial resistance poses a serious global health threat, challenging the efficacy of all antibiotics. Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are zinc-dependent enzymes able to confer resistance to all β-lactam antibiotics. Understanding MBL evolution is crucial to tackling present and future resistance mechanisms but studying MBLs in vitro is insufficient as it overlooks the natural physiological context of bacterial evolution and selection. This webinar will discuss recent efforts to examine the evolutionary traits of clinical MBL variants under conditions that mimic their natural bacterial environment, aiming to bridge the gap between laboratory studies and real-world bacterial physiology in the periplasm.