title: Colicin-like bacteriocins as novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of chronic biofilm-mediated infection.
abstract: The emergence of pan-resistant strains of Gram-negative pathogens and the ability of many bacteria to form multidrug-resistant biofilms during chronic infection poses the grave threat of bacterial infections that are truly untreatable with our current armoury of antibiotics. Despite obvious clinical need, few new antibiotics have entered clinical practice in recent years. For 'difficult to treat' Gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, where the presence of outer membrane and multidrug-efflux pumps severely limit the effectiveness of whole classes of antibiotics, the need is particularly pressing. An alternative approach to antimicrobial treatment is to use the well-characterized species-specific colicin-like bacteriocins which are produced by a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Our current work on colicin-like bacteriocins aims to determine whether these potent antimicrobial agents are effective at killing bacteria growing in the biofilm state and during infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 39A Cleveden Road, Glasgow G12 0PH, UK.
authors.forename: Carla L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McCaughey
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects*; D003087:Colicins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001430:Bacteriocins; D003087:Colicins