bacteria. Bacteria can combat β-lactams by expressing β-lactamases. Inhibitors of one class
of β-lactamase, the serine-β-lactamases, are used clinically to prevent degradation of β-
lactam antibiotics. However, a second class of β-lactamase, the metallo-β-lactamases
(MBLs), function by a different mechanism to serine-β-lactamases and no inhibitors of MBLs
have progressed to be used in the clinic. Bacteria that express MBLs are an increasingly …