Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore.
Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Aug 9;14(8):16570-99. doi: 10.3390/ijms140816570.
Quorum sensing is a cell density-dependent signaling phenomenon used by bacteria for coordination of population-wide phenotypes, such as expression of virulence genes, antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation. Lately, disruption of bacterial communication has emerged as an anti-virulence strategy with enormous therapeutic potential given the increasing incidences of drug resistance in pathogenic bacteria. The quorum quenching therapeutic approach promises a lower risk of resistance development, since interference with virulence generally does not affect the growth and fitness of the bacteria and, hence, does not exert an associated selection pressure for drug-resistant strains. With better understanding of bacterial communication networks and mechanisms, many quorum quenching methods have been developed against various clinically significant bacterial pathogens. In particular, Gram-negative bacteria are an important group of pathogens, because, collectively, they are responsible for the majority of hospital-acquired infections. Here, we discuss the current understanding of existing quorum sensing mechanisms and present important inhibitory strategies that have been developed against this group of pathogenic bacteria.
群体感应是一种细菌依赖细胞密度的信号现象，用于协调群体水平的表型，如毒力基因的表达、抗生素耐药性和生物膜形成。最近，细菌通讯的中断已成为一种抗毒力策略，具有巨大的治疗潜力，因为致病菌的耐药性发生率不断增加。由于干扰毒力通常不会影响细菌的生长和适应性，因此不会对耐药菌株施加相关的选择压力，因此抗毒力治疗方法的耐药性发展风险较低。随着对细菌通讯网络和机制的更好理解，已经针对各种具有临床意义的细菌病原体开发了许多群体感应淬灭方法。特别是，革兰氏阴性菌是一类重要的病原体，因为它们共同导致了大多数医院获得性感染。在这里，我们讨论了现有群体感应机制的现有理解，并介绍了针对这组致病菌开发的重要抑制策略。
