title: Improving the lethal effect of cpl-7, a pneumococcal phage lysozyme with broad bactericidal activity, by inverting the net charge of its cell wall-binding module.
abstract: Phage endolysins are murein hydrolases that break the bacterial cell wall to provoke lysis and release of phage progeny. Recently, these enzymes have also been recognized as powerful and specific antibacterial agents when added exogenously. In the pneumococcal system, most cell wall associated murein hydrolases reported so far depend on choline for activity, and Cpl-7 lysozyme constitutes a remarkable exception. Here, we report the improvement of the killing activity of the Cpl-7 endolysin by inversion of the sign of the charge of the cell wall-binding module (from -14.93 to +3.0 at neutral pH). The engineered variant, Cpl-7S, has 15 amino acid substitutions and an improved lytic activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae (including multiresistant strains), Streptococcus pyogenes, and other pathogens. Moreover, we have demonstrated that a single 25-μg dose of Cpl-7S significantly increased the survival rate of zebrafish embryos infected with S. pneumoniae or S. pyogenes, confirming the killing effect of Cpl-7S in vivo. Interestingly, Cpl-7S, in combination with 0.01% carvacrol (an essential oil), was also found to efficiently kill Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida, an effect not described previously. Our findings provide a strategy to improve the lytic activity of phage endolysins based on facilitating their pass through the negatively charged bacterial envelope, and thereby their interaction with the cell wall target, by modulating the net charge of the cell wall-binding modules.
authors: Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Díez-Martínez
authors: Héctor D
authors: HD
authors: de Paz
authors: Héctor
authors: H
authors: de Paz
authors: Noemí
authors: N
authors: Bustamante
authors: Ernesto
authors: E
authors: García
authors: Margarita
authors: M
authors: Menéndez
authors: Pedro
authors: P
authors: García
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D000081007:Cymenes; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D009113:Muramidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011485:Protein Binding; D015202:Protein Engineering; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D055672:Static Electricity; D017108:Streptococcus Phages / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000081007:Cymenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D014764:Viral Proteins; C073316:carvacrol; C067928:CPL7 lysozyme; D009113:Muramidase; D002794:Choline
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