title: Targeting antibacterial agents by using drug-carrying filamentous bacteriophages.
abstract: Bacteriophages have been used for more than a century for (unconventional) therapy of bacterial infections, for half a century as tools in genetic research, for 2 decades as tools for discovery of specific target-binding proteins, and for nearly a decade as tools for vaccination or as gene delivery vehicles. Here we present a novel application of filamentous bacteriophages (phages) as targeted drug carriers for the eradication of (pathogenic) bacteria. The phages are genetically modified to display a targeting moiety on their surface and are used to deliver a large payload of a cytotoxic drug to the target bacteria. The drug is linked to the phages by means of chemical conjugation through a labile linker subject to controlled release. In the conjugated state, the drug is in fact a prodrug devoid of cytotoxic activity and is activated following its dissociation from the phage at the target site in a temporally and spatially controlled manner. Our model target was Staphylococcus aureus, and the model drug was the antibiotic chloramphenicol. We demonstrated the potential of using filamentous phages as universal drug carriers for targetable cells involved in disease. Our approach replaces the selectivity of the drug itself with target selectivity borne by the targeting moiety, which may allow the reintroduction of nonspecific drugs that have thus far been excluded from antibacterial use (because of toxicity or low selectivity). Reintroduction of such drugs into the arsenal of useful tools may help to combat emerging bacterial antibiotic resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Iftach
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yacoby
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shamis
authors.forename: Hagit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bar
authors.forename: Doron
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shabat
authors.forename: Itai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Benhar
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D017912:Inovirus / Q000502:physiology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011355:Prodrugs; D002701:Chloramphenicol