In search of novel protein drug targets for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections

Abstract

Enterococcus faecalis (Ef) is one of the major pathogens involved in hospital-acquired infections. It can cause nosocomial bacteremia, surgical wound infection, and urinary tract infection. It is important to mention here that Ef is developing resistance against many commonly occurring antibiotics. The occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) and extensive-drug resistance (XDR) is now posing a major challenge to the medical community. In this regard, to combat the infections caused by Ef, we have to look for an alternative. Rational structure-based drug design exploits the three-dimensional structure of the target protein, which can be unraveled by various techniques such as X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In this review, we have discussed the complete picture of Ef infections, the possible treatment available at present, and the alternative treatment options to be explored. This study will help in better understanding of novel biological targets against Ef and the compounds, which are likely to bind with these targets. Using these detailed structural informations, rational structure-based drug design is achievable and tight inhibitors against Ef can be prepared. K E Y W O R D SEnterococcus faecalis, multidrug-resistant bacteria, protein drug targets, structure-based drug design

Editorial: Reviews in antibiotic resistance and new antimicrobial drugs

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Editorial on the Research Topic

Reviews in antibiotic resistance and new antimicrobial drugsAt the time of their discovery, antibiotics were considered a wonder drug for the treatment of bacterial infections, but the way microorganisms have involved several robust mechanisms to encounter the antibiotics has given rise to multi-drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drugresistant (XDR) strains (Eichenberger and Thaden, 2019;Terreni et al, 2021;Yadav et al, 2022). There are several ways by which the pathogen acquires resistance to antibiotics, including genetic variation in the genome of the pathogen, unselective usage of antibiotics, the development of biofilms, etc (Santos-Lopez et al, 2019;Singh et al, 2019). Since it has become difficult to treat such infections, it is essential to understand the mechanism of the development of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) so that strategies to prevent such infections can be developed (Lomazzi et al, 2019;Hu et al, 2020;Moo et al, 2020).The goal of this Research Topic was to highlight recent advances in the field of antibiotic resistance while emphasising important directions and new possibilities for future inquiries.

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