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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Anti-virulent Disruption of Pathogenic Biofilms using Engineered Quorum-quenching Lactonases
Published on: January 1, 2016
Antibody catalyzed hydrolysis of a quorum sensing signal found in Gram-negative bacteria
Sandra De Lamo Marin1, Yang Xu, Michael M Meijler
1Department of Chemistry, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, and Worm Institute for Research and Medicine (WIRM), The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Abstract:
N-(3-Oxo-acyl) homoserine lactones are used by Gram-negative bacteria to signal the establishment of specific population densities and coordinate population-wide gene expression. Herein we report the antibody-catalyzed hydrolysis of N-(3-oxo-acyl) homoserine lactone (AHL) using a reactive immunization strategy with a squaric monoester monoamide hapten. Kinetic analysis of the most efficient antibody revealed a modest k(cat), with AHL hydrolysis competitively inhibited by original squaric monoester monoamide hapten. These studies suggest that antibody catalysis could provide a new avenue for blocking quorum sensing in bacteria.
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