Synergistic removal of static and dynamic staphylococcus aureus biofilms by combined treatment with a bacteriophage endolysin and a polysaccharide depolymerase
Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen and biofilm former. Biofilms cause problems in clinics and food production and are highly recalcitrant to antibiotics and sanitizers. Bacteriophage endolysins kill bacteria by degrading their cell wall and are therefore deemed promising antimicrobials a...
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Published in | Viruses |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
MDPI
18.08.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen and biofilm former. Biofilms cause
problems in clinics and food production and are highly recalcitrant to antibiotics and sanitizers.
Bacteriophage endolysins kill bacteria by degrading their cell wall and are therefore deemed
promising antimicrobials and anti-biofilm agents. Depolymerases targeting polysaccharides in the
extracellular matrix have been suggested as parts of a multi-enzyme approach to eradicate biofilms.
The efficacy of endolysins and depolymerases against S. aureus biofilms in static models has been
demonstrated. However, there is a lack of studies evaluating their activity against biofilms grown
under more realistic conditions. Here, we investigated the efficacy of the endolysin LysK and the
poly-N-acetylglucosamine depolymerase DA7 against staphylococcal biofilms in static and dynamic
(flow cell-based) models. LysK showed activity against multiple S. aureus strains, and both LysK and
DA7 removed static and dynamic biofilms from polystyrene and glass surfaces at low micromolar
and nanomolar concentrations, respectively. When combined, the enzymes acted synergistically,
as demonstrated by crystal violet staining of static biofilms, significantly reducing viable cell counts
compared to individual enzyme treatment in the dynamic model, and confocal laser scanning
microscopy. Overall, our results suggest that LysK and DA7 are potent anti-biofilm agents, alone and
in combination. |
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Bibliography: | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000443619600049 Viruses, 10 (8) info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3390/v10080438 |
ISSN: | 1999-4915 1999-4915 |
DOI: | 10.3929/ethz-b-000286346 |