Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Mol Microbiol. 2010 Dec;78(5):1077-87. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07406.x. Epub 2010 Oct 12.
There are many examples of highly modified antimicrobial peptides in nature, many of which are non-ribosomally synthesized. However, the bacterial lantibiotics are produced as gene-encoded pre-peptides that are subsequently modified by dedicated enzyme systems to form extraordinarily potent inhibitors. Consequently, they are much more amenable to bioengineering which could lead to the generation of a new arsenal of potent antimicrobials. However, although bioengineering of these compounds has been underway for at least two decades, significant progress has only been reported in recent years. This review charts these recent developments which suggest that we are entering a 'Golden era' of lantibiotic bioengineering.
自然界中有许多经过高度修饰的抗菌肽，其中许多是非核糖体合成的。然而，细菌类细菌素是作为基因编码的前肽产生的，然后由专门的酶系统修饰，形成具有非凡效力的抑制剂。因此，它们更容易进行生物工程改造，从而产生新的强效抗菌药物。然而，尽管这些化合物的生物工程已经进行了至少二十年，但直到近年来才取得了重大进展。这篇综述描述了这些最近的发展，表明我们正在进入一个“类细菌素生物工程的黄金时代”。
