Weng Juehua, Guo Yunxue, Gu Jiayu, Chen Ran, Wang Xiaoxue
Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Viruses. 2025 Jan 15;17(1):112. doi: 10.3390/v17010112.
is a common opportunistic pathogen associated with nosocomial infections. The primary treatment for infections typically involves antibiotics, which can lead to the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. Therefore, there is a pressing need for safe and effective alternative methods. Phage therapy stands out as a promising approach. However, filamentous prophages (Pfs) commonly found in encode genes with phage defense activity, thereby reducing the efficacy of phage therapy. Through a genomic analysis of the Pf4 prophage, we identified a 102 bp gene co-transcribed with the upstream gene responsible for phage release ( gene), giving rise to a 33-amino-acid polypeptide that we have named Pf4-encoded toxic polypeptide (PftP4). The overexpression of PftP4 demonstrated cellular toxicity in , with subcellular localization indicating its presence in the cell membrane and a subsequent increase in membrane permeability. Notably, PftP4 homologues are found in multiple Pf phages and exhibit specificity in their toxicity towards among the tested bacterial strains. Our study reveals that the novel Pf-encoded polypeptide PftP4 has the potential to selectively target and eradicate , offering valuable insights for combating infections.
是一种与医院感染相关的常见机会性病原体。感染的主要治疗方法通常包括使用抗生素，这可能导致多重耐药菌株的出现。因此，迫切需要安全有效的替代方法。噬菌体疗法是一种很有前景的方法。然而，在中常见的丝状原噬菌体（Pfs）编码具有噬菌体防御活性的基因，从而降低了噬菌体疗法的疗效。通过对Pf4原噬菌体的基因组分析，我们鉴定出一个与负责噬菌体释放的上游基因（基因）共转录的102 bp基因，产生了一种33个氨基酸的多肽，我们将其命名为Pf4编码的毒性多肽（PftP4）。PftP4的过表达在中表现出细胞毒性，亚细胞定位表明其存在于细胞膜中，并随后增加了膜通透性。值得注意的是，在多个Pf噬菌体中发现了PftP4同源物，并且在测试的细菌菌株中对表现出毒性特异性。我们的研究表明，新型Pf编码的多肽PftP4具有选择性靶向和根除的潜力，为对抗感染提供了有价值的见解。
