Journal
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY
Volume 57, Issue 10, Pages 5045-5052Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00504-13
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [81001460, 81273555]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Staphylococcus epidermidis is one of the most frequent causes of device-associated infections, because it is known to cause bio-films that grow on catheters or other surgical implants. The persistent increasing resistance of S. epidermidis and other coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) has driven the need for newer antibacterial agents with innovative therapeutic strategies. Thanatin is reported to display potent antibiotic activities, especially against extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli. The present study aimed to investigate whether a shorter derivative peptide (R-thanatin) could be used as a novel antibacterial agent. We found that R-thanatin was highly potent in vitro against coagulase-negative staphylococci, such as S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, and S. hominis, and inhibited biofilm formation at subinhibitory concentrations. Properties of little toxicity to human red blood cells (hRBCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, a low incidence of resistance, and relatively high stability in plasma were confirmed. Excellent in vivo protective effects were also observed using a methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis (MRSE)-induced urinary tract infection rat model. Electron microscopy and confocal laser-scanning microscopy analyses suggested that R-thanatin disturbed cell division of MRSE severely, which might be the reason for inhibition of MRSE growth. These findings indicate that R-thanatin is active against the growth and biofilm formation of MRSE in vitro and in vivo. R-thanatin might be considered as a specific drug candidate for treating CoNS infections.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available