title: Novel approaches to bacterial infection therapy by interfering with bacteria-to-bacteria signaling.
abstract: The growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance and the paucity of novel antibiotics underscore the importance of developing novel therapeutics. Bacterial cell-to-cell signaling constitutes a novel drug target. Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell signaling mechanism that refers to the ability of bacteria to respond to chemical hormone-like molecules called autoinducers. QS is responsible for controlling a plethora of virulence genes in several bacterial pathogens. Antagonists to autoinducers will intercept bacterial intercellular communication, hindering their ability to act in a coordinated manner to express virulence traits. Moreover, since QS is not involved directly in essential processes, such as bacterial growth, one can reason that inhibition of QS will not yield a selective pressure for the development of resistance.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dept of Microbiology, 5325 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-9048, USA. vanessa.sperandio@utsouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sperandio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents