title: Quorum sensing peptides mediating interspecies bacterial cell death as a novel class of antimicrobial agents.
abstract: mazEF is a toxin-antitoxin stress-induced module which is abundant on the chromosome of most bacteria including pathogens and most extensively studied in Escherichia coli. E. coli mazEF mediated cell death is a population phenomenon requiring the quorum-sensing (QS) 'Extracellular Death Factor' (EDF), the E. coli peptide NNWNN. E. coli mazEF-mediated cell death can also be triggered by different QS peptides secreted by the Gram positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the Gram negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Thus, the different EDFs belong to a family of QS peptides that mediates interspecies cell death. We suggest that members of the EDF family may become the basis for a novel class of antimicrobial agents to trigger death from outside the bacterial cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Sathish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. Electronic address: hanita@cc.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engelberg-Kulka
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C422954:MazE protein, E coli; C422955:MazF protein, E coli; D009842:Oligopeptides; C528802:asparagyl-aspargyl-tryptophyl-asparagyl-asparagine; D004722:Endoribonucleases