title: Can resistance against quorum-sensing interference be selected?
abstract: Quorum-sensing (QS) interference is a novel therapy to fight bacterial infections that, unlike conventional antibiotic treatments, is focused on reducing the damage caused by pathogens (virulence) rather than focused on inhibiting their growth. Given this ideal, it was predicted that this approach will be impervious to or at least much less prone to resistance in bacterial populations. However, recently, resistance mechanisms against well-characterized quorum quenchers (QQs) have been found in the laboratory as well as in clinical strains, demonstrating that the rise of resistance against these kinds of compounds is possible. Nevertheless, it has been argued that even if resistance mechanisms against QS interference exist, this fact does not guarantee that resistance will spread. In the present work, we discuss recent insights derived from the latest experiments to address this question. In addition, we explain how environmental conditions like the stress produced by the host immune system may influence the selection of resistance and eventually lead to the selection of QS interference-resistant bacteria in a clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Contreras
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Functions Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshinari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents