Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias. IPLA-CSIC, Paseo Rio Linares sn Villaviciosa Asturias , Spain.
Crit Rev Microbiol. 2013 Nov;39(4):427-34. doi: 10.3109/1040841X.2012.723675. Epub 2012 Sep 20.
Virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases (VAPGH) are phage-encoded lytic enzymes that locally degrade the peptidoglycan (PG) of the bacterial cell wall during infection. In contrast to endolysins, PGHs that mediate lysis of the host bacteria at the end of the lytic cycle to release of phage progeny, the action of VAPGHs generates a small hole through which the phage tail tube crosses the cell envelope to eject the phage genetic material at the beginning to the infection cycle. The antimicrobial activity of VAPGHs was first discovered through the observation of the phenomenon of 'lysis from without', in which the disruption of the bacterial cell wall occurs prior to phage production and is caused by a high number of phages adsorbed onto the cell surface. Based on a unique combination of properties of VAPGHs such as high specificity, remarkable thermostability, and a modular organization, these proteins are potential candidates as new antibacterial agents, e.g. against antibiotic-resistant bacteria in human therapy and veterinary as well as biopreservatives in food safety, and as biocontrol agents of harmful bacteria in agriculture. This review provides an overview of the different VAPGHs discovered to date and their potential as novel antimicrobials.
病毒相关肽聚糖水解酶（VAPGH）是噬菌体编码的溶菌酶，可在感染过程中局部降解细菌细胞壁的肽聚糖（PG）。与内溶素不同，PGHs 在溶菌周期结束时介导宿主细菌的裂解，以释放噬菌体后代，而 VAPGHs 的作用是产生一个小孔，噬菌体尾管穿过细胞包膜，在感染周期的开始时将噬菌体的遗传物质喷射出来。VAPGHs 的抗菌活性最初是通过观察“从外向内裂解”现象发现的，在这种现象中，噬菌体产生之前就发生了细菌细胞壁的破坏，这是由于大量噬菌体吸附在细胞表面上引起的。基于 VAPGHs 的独特性质组合，如高度特异性、显著的热稳定性和模块化组织，这些蛋白质是作为新型抗菌剂的潜在候选物，例如用于人类治疗和兽医中的抗生素耐药菌，以及食品安全中的生物防腐剂，以及农业中有害细菌的生物防治剂。本文综述了迄今为止发现的不同 VAPGH 及其作为新型抗菌剂的潜力。
