Mechanisms of β-lactam Resistance

Robert Bonomo, MD, is Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Among the major problems faced in medicine, resistance to antibiotics is regarded as a singular challenge. The primary focus of Dr. Bonomo’s laboratory is to understand the genetic and amino acid sequence determinants of the enzymes that inactivate ß-lactams, the ß-lactamases. His lab current work is directed at solving three main problems: how ß-lactamase inhibitors inactivate -lactamases; how ß-lactamases hydrolyze advanced generation cephalosporins; and how mutations impact upon ß-lactamase expression. We are also interested in how penicillin interacts with penicillin resistant PBPs and the molecular epidemiology of extended spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs).