Anti-biofilm peptides as a new weapon in antimicrobial warfare.
Daniel Pletzer, Shannon R Coleman, Robert Ew Hancock
Author Information
Daniel Pletzer: Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Shannon R Coleman: Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Robert Ew Hancock: Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Electronic address: bob@hancocklab.com.
Microorganisms growing in a biofilm state are very resilient in the face of treatment by many antimicrobial agents. Biofilm infections are a significant problem in chronic and long-term infections, including those colonizing medical devices and implants. Anti-biofilm peptides represent a very promising approach to treat biofilm-related infections and have an extraordinary ability to interfere with various stages of the biofilm growth mode. Anti-biofilm peptides possess promising broad-spectrum activity in killing both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in biofilms, show strong synergy with conventional antibiotics, and act by targeting a universal stringent stress response. Understanding downstream processes at the molecular level will help to develop and design peptides with increased activity. Anti-biofilm peptides represent a novel, exciting approach to treating recalcitrant bacterial infections.
