Anti-biofilm peptides as a new weapon in antimicrobial warfare

Abstract

Microorganisms growing in a biofilm state are very resilient in the face of treatment by many antimicrobial agents. Biofilm infections are a significant problem in chronic and long-term infections, including those colonizing medical devices and implants. Anti-biofilm peptides represent a very promising approach to treat biofilm-related infections and have an extraordinary ability to interfere with various stages of the biofilm growth mode. Anti-biofilm peptides possess promising broad-spectrum activity in killing both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in biofilms, show strong synergy with conventional antibiotics, and act by targeting a universal stringent stress response. Understanding downstream processes at the molecular level will help to develop and design peptides with increased activity. Anti-biofilm peptides represent a novel, exciting approach to treating recalcitrant bacterial infections.

Targeting microbial biofilms: current and prospective therapeutic strategies

“…An important advantage of AMPs is that they are widely conserved and therefore attractive as broad-acting antimicrobial agents that may be useful against both bacterial and fungal biofilms 102,103 . Conversely, species-specific targeting is also possible with synthetic AMPs that consist of dual functionally independent moieties (a broad-spectrum AMP with a killing moiety, and a species-specific binding peptide with target specificity).…”

The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens – a promising source for sustainable production of proteins, lipids and bioactive substances

“…Very promising drugs to combat multi-resistant strains are represented by antimicrobial peptides derived from eukaryotes made by the innate immune system of the producing organism. In recent years several AMPs were discovered for their ability to affect bacterial biofilms [60]. For example, the cathelicidin LL-37 produced by human neutrophils is very effective against P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and already existing biofilms of the multidrug-resistant S. aureus [61][62][63][64].…”

“…For example, the cathelicidin LL-37 produced by human neutrophils is very effective against P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and already existing biofilms of the multidrug-resistant S. aureus [61][62][63][64]. Despite these advantages, currently no commercial antibiofilm peptides are available to challenge biofilm infections specifically [60].…”

Host Peptidic Hormones Affecting Bacterial Biofilm Formation and Virulence

“…While the molecular mechanisms that allow Gram-negative bacteria to resist to antibiotics within biofilms are well documented, this is not yet the case for Gram-positive bacteria [4, 5]. Based on naturally occurring antimicrobial and host defense peptides, the design of small synthetic peptides with broad-spectrum antibiofilm activity has provided a glimmer of hope in the fight against pan-antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the so-called superbugs [6, 7], providing a really promising start for the development of new antibacterial agents [8]. These peptides have been tested either alone [9] or in association with antibiotics since they could act as biofilm-dispersive agents to improve the action of antibiotics [10].…”