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At least 829 records · Page 46

Multidrug Efflux Pumps and the Two-Faced Janus of Substrates and Inhibitors

Antibiotics are miracle drugs that can cure infectious bacterial diseases. However, their utility is challenged by antibiotic resistant bacteria emerging in clinics and straining the modern medicine and our ways of life. Certain bacteria such as Gram-negative (Gram(- )) and Mycobacteriales species are intrinsically resistant to most clinical antibiotics and can further gain multidrug resistance through mutations and plasmid acquisition. These species stand out by the presence of an additional external lipidic membranes (the outer membrane, OM) that are composed of unique glycolipids. Although formidable, the OM is a passive permeability barrier that can reduce penetration of antibiotics but cannot affect intracellular steady-state concentrations of drugs. The two-membrane envelopes are further reinforced by active efflux transporters that expel antibiotics from cells against their concentration gradients. The major mechanism of antibiotic resistance in Gram(-) pathogens is the active efflux of drugs, which acts synergistically with the low permeability barrier of the OM and other mutational and plasmid-borne mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Activating alternative transport modes in a multidrug resistance efflux pump to confer chemical susceptibility

Small multidrug resistance (SMR) transporters contribute to antibiotic resistance through proton-coupled efflux of toxic compounds. Previous biophysical studies of the E. coli SMR transporter EmrE suggest that it should also be able to perform proton/toxin symport or uniport, leading to toxin susceptibility rather than resistance in vivo. Here we show EmrE does confer susceptibility to several previously uncharacterized small-molecule substrates in E. coli, including harmane. In vitro electrophysiology assays demonstrate that harmane binding triggers uncoupled proton flux through EmrE. Assays in E. coli are consistent with EmrE-mediated dissipation of the transmembrane pH gradient as the mechanism underlying the in vivo phenotype of harmane susceptibility. Furthermore, checkerboard assays show this alternative EmrE transport mode can synergize with some existing antibiotics, such as kanamycin. These results demonstrate that it is possible to not just inhibit multidrug efflux, but to activate alternative transport modes detrimental to bacteria, suggesting a strategy to address antibiotic resistance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Coherent phonon flatband generated in GaAs/AlAs superlattices via layer-selective optical pumping

Flatbands, characterized by their dispersionless energy levels in electronic, magnetic, and phononic systems, hold substantial potential for advancements in electronics and quantum information processing. Most flatbands exist in thermal equilibrium and cannot be easily created or annihilated externally, limiting their flexibility as switchable knobs for use in microelectronics and quantum applications. In our work, we demonstrate the generation of a coherent phonon flatband in a GaAs/AlAs superlattice using 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses. This coherent phonon flatband does not correspond to a phonon eigenmode at equilibrium and exhibits strong coupling with two branches of coherently excited longitudinal phonon modes. With molecular dynamics simulations, we show more generally that the coherent phonon flatband can be induced by coherently and spatially modulated optical excitations of superlattice structures. Our results highlight a pathway for coherent phonon flatband creation in the time domain that can be generalized to various superlattice systems, potentially inspiring the realization of coherent flatband generation of other quasiparticles.

Condensed-matter physics↗

Solution phase high repetition rate laser pump x-ray probe picosecond hard x-ray spectroscopy at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

We present a dedicated end-station for solution phase high repetition rate (MHz) picosecond hard x-ray spectroscopy at beamline 15-2 of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. A high-power ultrafast ytterbium-doped fiber laser is used to photoexcite the samples at a repetition rate of 640 kHz, while the data acquisition operates at the 1.28 MHz repetition rate of the storage ring recording data in an alternating on-off mode. The time-resolved x-ray measurements are enabled via gating the x-ray detectors with the 20 mA/70 ps camshaft bunch of SPEAR3, a mode available during the routine operations of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. As a benchmark study, aiming to demonstrate the advantageous capabilities of this end-station, we have conducted picosecond Fe K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy on aqueous [FeII(phen)3]2+, a prototypical spin crossover complex that undergoes light-induced excited spin state trapping forming an electronic excited state with a 0.6–0.7 ns lifetime. In addition, we report transient Fe Kβ main line and valence-to-core x-ray emission spectra, showing a unique detection sensitivity and an excellent agreement with model spectra and density functional theory calculations, respectively. Notably, the achieved signal-to-noise ratio, the overall performance, and the routine availability of the developed end-station have enabled a systematic time-resolved science program using the monochromatic beam at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗