Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2012 Dec;96(5):1157-74. doi: 10.1007/s00253-012-4484-3. Epub 2012 Oct 18.
Bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus are common pathogens responsible for a broad spectrum of human and animal infections and belong to the most important etiological factors causing food poisoning. Because of rapid increase in the prevalence of isolation of staphylococci resistant to many antibiotics, there is an urgent need for the development of new alternative chemotherapeutics. A number of studies have recently demonstrated the strong potential of peptidoglycan hydrolases (PHs) to control and treat infections caused by this group of bacteria. PHs cause rapid lysis and death of bacterial cells. The review concentrates on enzymes hydrolyzing peptidoglycan of staphylococci. Usually, they are characterized by high specificity to only Staphylococcus aureus cell wall components; however, some of them are also able to lyse cells of other staphylococci, e.g., Staphylococcus epidermidis-human pathogen of growing importance and also other groups of bacteria. Some PHs strengthen the bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity of common antibiotics, and as a result, they should be considered as component of combined therapy which could definitely reduced the development of bacterial resistance to both enzymes and antibiotics. The preliminary research revealed that most of these enzymes can be produced using heterologous, especially Escherichia coli expression systems; however, still much effort is required to develop more efficient and large-scale production technologies. This review discusses current state on knowledge with emphasis on the possibilities of application of PHs in the context of therapeutics for infections caused by staphylococci.
葡萄球菌属的细菌是常见的病原体，可引起广泛的人类和动物感染，是引起食物中毒的最重要病因之一。由于耐多种抗生素的葡萄球菌分离株的流行率迅速增加，因此迫切需要开发新的替代化学疗法。最近的许多研究表明，糖肽水解酶（PHs）具有控制和治疗此类细菌感染的强大潜力。PHs 可导致细菌细胞迅速裂解和死亡。该综述集中于水解葡萄球菌糖肽的酶。通常，它们的特点是对仅金黄色葡萄球菌细胞壁成分具有高特异性；但是，其中一些还能够裂解其他葡萄球菌（例如表皮葡萄球菌-日益重要的人类病原体）和其他细菌群的细胞。一些 PHs 增强了常见抗生素的杀菌或抑菌活性，因此，它们被认为是联合治疗的组成部分，这肯定会降低细菌对酶和抗生素产生耐药性的发展。初步研究表明，这些酶中的大多数可以使用异源，特别是大肠杆菌表达系统来生产；但是，仍需要付出很多努力来开发更有效和大规模的生产技术。该综述讨论了当前的知识状况，并重点讨论了 PHs 在治疗葡萄球菌引起的感染方面的应用可能性。
