Antarctic Marine Bacteria as a Source of Anti-Biofilm Molecules to Combat ESKAPE Pathogens

Abstract

The ESKAPE pathogens, including bacteria such as Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species, pose a global health threat due to their ability to resist antimicrobial drugs and evade the immune system. These pathogens are responsible for hospital-acquired infections, especially in intensive care units, and contribute to the growing problem of multi-drug resistance. In this study, researchers focused on exploring the potential of Antarctic marine bacteria as a source of anti-biofilm molecules to combat ESKAPE pathogens. Four Antarctic bacterial strains were selected, and their cell-free supernatants were tested against 60 clinical ESKAPE isolates. The results showed that the supernatants did not exhibit antimicrobial activity but effectively prevented biofilm formation and dispersed mature biofilms. This research highlights the promising potential of Antarctic bacteria in producing compounds that can counteract biofilms formed by clinically significant bacterial species. These findings contribute to the development of new strategies for preventing and controlling infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens.

Relationship between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae and updates on antibiofilm therapeutic strategies

“…Synergistic effects were observed for K11 combined with chloramphenicol, meropenem, rifampicin, or ceftazidime, whereas no synergy was observed with colistin. Osmin is a wellknown bee venom peptide composed of 17 amino acids (GFLSALKKYLPIVLKHV-NH 2 ), which exhibited significant antibiofilm activity against the K. pneumoniae KCTC 2208 and CRKP strains (Artini et al, 2023;Jeon et al, 2023). Osmin inhibited 93.3% (at 1.56µM) biofilm formation of K. pneumoniae KCTC 2208, and more than 85% (at 3.13 µM) biofilm formation of CRKP strains.…”