Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur, India
Structural Biology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2022;23(4):248-263. doi: 10.2174/1389203723666220526155644.
Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is an opportunistic multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen found in the guts of humans and farmed animals. Due to the occurrence of (MDR) strain there is an urgent need to look for an alternative treatment approach. E. faecalis is a Gram-positive bacterium, which is among the most prevalent multidrug resistant hospital pathogens. Its ability to develop quorum sensing (QS) mediated biofilm formation further exacerbates the pathogenicity and triggers lifethreatening infections. Therefore, developing a suitable remedy for curing E. faecalis mediated enterococcal infections is an arduous task. Several putative virulence factors and proteins are involved in the development of biofilms in E. faecalis. Such proteins often play important roles in virulence, disease, and colonization by pathogens. The elucidation of the structure-function relationship of such protein drug targets and the interacting compounds could provide an attractive paradigm towards developing structure-based drugs against E. faecalis. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status, enigmas that warrant further studies, and the prospects toward alleviating the antibiotic resistance in E. faecalis. Specifically, the role of biofilm and quorum sensing (QS) in the emergence of MDR strains had been elaborated along with the importance of the protein drug targets involved in both the processes.
屎肠球菌（E. faecalis）是一种机会性多药耐药（MDR）病原体，存在于人类和养殖动物的肠道中。由于（MDR）菌株的出现，迫切需要寻找替代的治疗方法。屎肠球菌是一种革兰氏阳性细菌，是最常见的多药耐药医院病原体之一。它具有群体感应（QS）介导生物膜形成的能力，这进一步加剧了其致病性，并引发危及生命的感染。因此，开发一种合适的方法来治疗屎肠球菌介导的肠球菌感染是一项艰巨的任务。几种假定的毒力因子和蛋白质参与了屎肠球菌生物膜的形成。这些蛋白质通常在病原体的毒力、疾病和定植中发挥重要作用。阐明这些蛋白药物靶点和相互作用化合物的结构-功能关系，可以为开发针对屎肠球菌的基于结构的药物提供一个有吸引力的范例。本文综述了屎肠球菌的现状、需要进一步研究的难题以及缓解其抗生素耐药性的前景。具体来说，阐述了生物膜和群体感应（QS）在多药耐药菌株出现中的作用，以及这两个过程中涉及的蛋白药物靶点的重要性。
