Peng Huan, Chen Irene A, Qimron Udi
Cellular Signaling Laboratory, International Research Center for Sensory Biology and Technology of MOST, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, Hubei China.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1592, United States.
Chem Rev. 2025 Jan 22;125(2):933-971. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00681. Epub 2024 Dec 16.
Facing the global "superbug" crisis due to the emergence and selection for antibiotic resistance, phages are among the most promising solutions. Fighting multidrug-resistant bacteria requires precise diagnosis of bacterial pathogens and specific cell-killing. Phages have several potential advantages over conventional antibacterial agents such as host specificity, self-amplification, easy production, low toxicity as well as biofilm degradation. However, the narrow host range, uncharacterized properties, as well as potential risks from exponential replication and evolution of natural phages, currently limit their applications. Engineering phages can not only enhance the host bacteria range and improve phage efficacy, but also confer new functions. This review first summarizes major phage engineering techniques including both chemical modification and genetic engineering. Subsequent sections discuss the applications of engineered phages for bacterial pathogen detection and ablation through interdisciplinary approaches of synthetic biology and nanotechnology. We discuss future directions and persistent challenges in the ongoing exploration of phage engineering for pathogen control.
面对因抗生素耐药性的出现和选择而引发的全球“超级细菌”危机，噬菌体是最具前景的解决方案之一。对抗多重耐药细菌需要精确诊断细菌病原体并进行特异性细胞杀伤。与传统抗菌剂相比，噬菌体具有几个潜在优势，如宿主特异性、自我扩增、易于生产、低毒性以及生物膜降解能力。然而，天然噬菌体宿主范围狭窄、特性不明，以及指数级复制和进化带来的潜在风险，目前限制了它们的应用。工程改造噬菌体不仅可以扩大宿主细菌范围并提高噬菌体功效，还能赋予其新功能。本综述首先总结了主要的噬菌体工程技术，包括化学修饰和基因工程。随后各部分通过合成生物学和纳米技术的跨学科方法，讨论了工程噬菌体在细菌病原体检测和清除方面的应用。我们探讨了在持续探索用于病原体控制的噬菌体工程过程中的未来方向和持续挑战。
