Defensive remodeling: How bacterial surface properties and biofilm formation promote resistance to antimicrobial peptides.
Multidrug resistance bacteria are a major concern worldwide. These pathogens cannot be treated with conventional antibiotics and thus alternative therapeutic agents are needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered to be good candidates for this purpose. Most AMPs are short and positively charged amphipathic peptides, which are found in all known forms of life. AMPs are known to kill bacteria by binding to the negatively charged bacterial surface, and in most cases cause membrane disruption. Resistance toward AMPs can be developed, by modification of bacterial surface molecules, secretion of protective material and up-regulation or elimination of specific proteins. Because of the general mechanisms of attachment and action of AMPs, bacterial resistance to AMPs often involves biophysical and biochemical changes such as surface rigidity, cell wall thickness, surface charge, as well as membrane and cell wall modification. Here we focus on the biophysical, surface and surrounding changes that bacteria undergo in acquiring resistance to AMPs. In addition we discuss the question of whether bacterial resistance to administered AMPs might compromise our innate immunity to endogenous AMPs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobial Peptides.
['Nuri|Reut|R|', 'Shprung|Tal|T|', 'Shai|Yechiel|Y|']
D000818:Animals D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides D001426:Bacterial Proteins D018441:Biofilms D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions D006801:Humans D057131:Immune Evasion D007113:Immunity, Innate D050296:Microbial Viability D011487:Protein Conformation D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational D015398:Signal Transduction D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship D013499:Surface Properties
Surface Biofilm Resistance Antimicrobial peptides Biochemical properties Biophysical properties Cross resistance