Author(s)

Avneet Saini, Rohit Bansal

Department of Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) has created a medical storm ever since it was first reported; as it is active on virtually all clinically used β-lactam antibiotics. NDM-1 rampancy worldwide is now considered a nightmare scenario, particularly due to its rapid dissemination. An underlying theme in the majority of recent studies is structural characterization as knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of NDM-1 shall help find connections between its structure and function. Moreover, structural details are even critical in order to reveal the resistance mecha- nism to β-lactam antibiotics. In this perspective, we review structural characteristics of NDM-1 that have been delineated since its first report. We anticipate that these structure-function connections made by its characterization shall further serve as future guidelines for elucidating pathways towards de novo design of functional inhibitors.

NDM-1; Metallo-β-Lactamase; Superbug; β-Lactam; Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases

Saini, A. and Bansal, R. (2012) Insights on the structural characteristics of NDM-1: The journey so far. Advances in Biological Chemistry, 2, 323-334. doi: 10.4236/abc.2012.24040.