Wang Can, Guan Youhong, Wang Wanrong, Zhang Binbin, Li Pulin, Han Rui, Wu Wenlong, Zhou Sijing, Wang Ran
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230000, Anhui, China.
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Fuyang Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Fuyang, 236000, Anhui, China.
Curr Microbiol. 2024 Dec 2;82(1):27. doi: 10.1007/s00284-024-03973-6.
The rising tide of bacterial drug resistance has sparked renewed interest in bacteriophages, the natural predators of bacteria. Our study highlights IME-EFm1, a Caudoviricetes bacteriophage specifically targeting Enterococcus faecium. Through our investigations, we identified that the gene IME-EFm1-ORF24 encodes an amidase, referred to as gp24, with promising lytic capabilities. Remarkably, gp24 exhibited a wider lytic spectrum than its parent phage, successfully lysing 26 out of 32 E. faecium strains, compared to the phage's ability to lyse only 21. This protein demonstrated robust antibacterial activity, remaining effective at temperatures between 25 °C and 60 °C and across a pH range of 6 to 12. Additionally, gp24 displayed significant anti-biofilm properties, effectively dismantling established biofilms in vitro. In a mouse model of abdominal infection, gp24 achieved a 75% protection rate against a dose of 2 × 10 colony-forming units of E. faecium En383, significantly outperforming the control group (p < 0.05). These compelling results suggest that gp24 holds great potential as a novel antimicrobial agent for treating E. faecium infections.
细菌耐药性的不断上升引发了人们对噬菌体（细菌的天然捕食者）的新兴趣。我们的研究重点介绍了IME-EFm1，一种专门针对粪肠球菌的有尾噬菌体。通过我们的研究，我们确定基因IME-EFm1-ORF24编码一种酰胺酶，称为gp24，具有良好的裂解能力。值得注意的是，gp24的裂解谱比其亲本噬菌体更广，在32株粪肠球菌菌株中成功裂解了26株，而该噬菌体只能裂解21株。这种蛋白质表现出强大的抗菌活性，在25°C至60°C的温度范围内以及pH值为6至12的范围内均保持有效。此外，gp24还表现出显著的抗生物膜特性，能够在体外有效破坏已形成的生物膜。在腹部感染的小鼠模型中，gp24对2×10个粪肠球菌En383菌落形成单位的剂量实现了75%的保护率，显著优于对照组（p<0.05）。这些令人信服的结果表明，gp24作为一种治疗粪肠球菌感染的新型抗菌剂具有巨大潜力。
