GSK, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 17;24(4):4030. doi: 10.3390/ijms24044030.
Bacteria and fungi have developed resistance to the existing therapies such as antibiotics and antifungal drugs, and multiple mechanisms are mediating this resistance. Among these, the formation of an extracellular matrix embedding different bacterial cells, called biofilm, is an effective strategy through which bacterial and fungal cells are establishing a relationship in a unique environment. The biofilm provides them the possibility to transfer genes conferring resistance, to prevent them from desiccation and to impede the penetration of antibiotics or antifungal drugs. Biofilms are formed of several constituents including extracellular DNA, proteins and polysaccharides. Depending on the bacteria, different polysaccharides form the biofilm matrix in different microorganisms, some of them involved in the first stage of cells' attachment to surfaces and to each other, and some responsible for giving the biofilm structure resistance and stability. In this review, we describe the structure and the role of different polysaccharides in bacterial and fungal biofilms, we revise the analytical methods to characterize them quantitatively and qualitatively and finally we provide an overview of potential new antimicrobial therapies able to inhibit biofilm formation by targeting exopolysaccharides.
细菌和真菌已经对现有的治疗方法（如抗生素和抗真菌药物）产生了耐药性，多种机制介导了这种耐药性。其中，形成一种将不同细菌细胞包裹在其中的细胞外基质，称为生物膜，是一种有效的策略，通过这种策略，细菌和真菌细胞在独特的环境中建立关系。生物膜使它们有可能转移赋予耐药性的基因，防止它们干燥，并阻碍抗生素或抗真菌药物的渗透。生物膜由包括细胞外 DNA、蛋白质和多糖在内的几种成分组成。根据细菌的不同，不同的多糖在不同的微生物中形成生物膜基质，其中一些参与细胞最初附着在表面和彼此之间的阶段，而另一些则负责赋予生物膜结构的阻力和稳定性。在这篇综述中，我们描述了不同多糖在细菌和真菌生物膜中的结构和作用，我们回顾了用于对其进行定量和定性分析的分析方法，最后我们概述了能够通过靶向胞外多糖来抑制生物膜形成的潜在新型抗菌治疗方法。
