Engineering strategies and challenges of endolysin as an antibacterial agent against Gram‐negative bacteria

• Published in: Microbial biotechnology Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. e14465 - n/a
• Main Authors: Zheng, Tianyu, Zhang, Can
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacteriophages - genetics; Drug resistance; Endopeptidases - genetics; Endopeptidases - pharmacology; Genes; Genomes; Gram-Negative Bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; Membranes; Mini Review; Mini Reviews; Molecular weight; Pathogens; Peptidoglycans; Phages; Prevention; Proteins
• ISSN: 1751-7915; 1751-7915
• DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14465

Bacteriophage endolysin is a novel antibacterial agent that has attracted much attention in the prevention and control of drug‐resistant bacteria due to its unique mechanism of hydrolysing peptidoglycans. Although endolysin exhibits excellent bactericidal effects on Gram‐positive bacteria, the presence of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria makes it difficult to lyse them extracellularly, thus limiting their application field. To enhance the extracellular activity of endolysin and facilitate its crossing through the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria, researchers have adopted physical, chemical, and molecular methods. This review summarizes the characterization of endolysin targeting Gram‐negative bacteria, strategies for endolysin modification, and the challenges and future of engineering endolysin against Gram‐negative bacteria in clinical applications, to promote the application of endolysin in the prevention and control of Gram‐negative bacteria. Bacteriophage endolysins have limited use against Gram‐negative bacteria for the envelop. To enhance the extracellular activity of endolysin and facilitate its crossing through the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria, researchers have adopted physical, chemical, and molecular strategies for endolysin modification, to promote the application of endolysin in the prevention and control of Gram‐negative bacteria.