Batoni Giovanna, Maisetta Giuseppantonio, Esin Semih
Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2016 May;1858(5):1044-60. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2015.10.013. Epub 2015 Oct 23.
Biofilm-associated infections represent one of the major threats of modern medicine. Biofilm-forming bacteria are encased in a complex mixture of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and acquire properties that render them highly tolerant to conventional antibiotics and host immune response. Therefore, there is a pressing demand of new drugs active against microbial biofilms. In this regard, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent an option taken increasingly in consideration. After dissecting the peculiar biofilm features that may greatly affect the development of new antibiofilm drugs, the present article provides a general overview of the rationale behind the use of AMPs against biofilms of medically relevant bacteria and on the possible mechanisms of AMP-antibiofilm activity. An analysis of the interactions of AMPs with biofilm components, especially those constituting the EPS, and the obstacles and/or opportunities that may arise from such interactions in the development of new AMP-based antibiofilm strategies is also presented and discussed. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Antimicrobial Peptides edited by Karl Lohner and Kai Hilpert.
生物膜相关感染是现代医学面临的主要威胁之一。形成生物膜的细菌被包裹在细胞外聚合物（EPS）的复杂混合物中，并获得了使其对传统抗生素和宿主免疫反应具有高度耐受性的特性。因此，迫切需要能够有效对抗微生物生物膜的新型药物。在这方面，抗菌肽（AMPs）越来越受到关注。在剖析了可能极大影响新型抗生物膜药物开发的生物膜独特特征后，本文概述了使用抗菌肽对抗医学相关细菌生物膜的基本原理以及抗菌肽抗生物膜活性的可能机制。本文还介绍并讨论了抗菌肽与生物膜成分（尤其是构成EPS的成分）之间的相互作用分析，以及在基于抗菌肽的新型抗生物膜策略开发中这种相互作用可能带来的障碍和/或机遇。本文是由Karl Lohner和Kai Hilpert编辑的名为《抗菌肽》特刊的一部分。
