Laboratory of Phage Therapy, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kładki 24, 80-822, Gdansk, Poland.
Department of Molecular Biology, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308, Gdansk, Poland.
Microbiol Res. 2021 Jul;248:126746. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2021.126746. Epub 2021 Mar 11.
Appearance of pathogenic bacteria resistant to most, if not all, known antibiotics is currently one of the most significant medical problems. Therefore, development of novel antibacterial therapies is crucial for efficient treatment of bacterial infections in the near future. One possible option is to employ enzymes, encoded by bacteriophages, which cause destruction of bacterial cell membranes and walls. Bacteriophages use such enzymes to destroy bacterial host cells at the final stage of their lytic development, in order to ensure effective liberation of progeny virions. Nevertheless, to use such bacteriophage-encoded proteins in medicine and/or biotechnology, it is crucial to understand details of their biological functions and biochemical properties. Therefore, in this review article, we will present and discuss our current knowledge on the processes of bacteriophage-mediated bacterial cell lysis, with special emphasis on enzymes involved in them. Regulation of timing of the lysis is also discussed. Finally, possibilities of the practical use of these enzymes as antibacterial agents will be underlined and perspectives of this aspect will be presented.
目前，致病菌对大多数（如果不是全部）已知抗生素产生耐药性，是最严重的医学问题之一。因此，开发新型抗菌疗法对于未来有效治疗细菌感染至关重要。一种可能的选择是利用噬菌体编码的酶，这些酶会破坏细菌的细胞膜和细胞壁。噬菌体在其裂解发育的最后阶段使用这些酶来破坏细菌宿主细胞，以确保有效释放子代病毒颗粒。然而，要将此类噬菌体编码的蛋白质用于医学和/或生物技术，就必须了解其生物学功能和生化特性的细节。因此，在这篇综述文章中，我们将介绍和讨论我们目前对噬菌体介导的细菌细胞裂解过程的了解，特别强调参与其中的酶。还讨论了裂解时间的调控。最后，将强调这些酶作为抗菌剂的实际用途的可能性，并介绍这方面的前景。
