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Methodologies for Studying B. subtilis Biofilms as a Model for Characterizing Small Molecule Biofilm Inhibitors
Published on: October 9, 2016
Agents that inhibit bacterial biofilm formation
Nira Rabin1, Yue Zheng, Clement Opoku-Temeng
1Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Abstract:
In the biofilm form, bacteria are more resistant to various antimicrobial treatments. Bacteria in a biofilm can also survive harsh conditions and withstand the host's immune system. Therefore, there is a need for new treatment options to treat biofilm-associated infections. Currently, research is focused on the development of antibiofilm agents that are nontoxic, as it is believed that such molecules will not lead to future drug resistance. In this review, we discuss recent discoveries of antibiofilm agents and different approaches to inhibit/disperse biofilms. These new antibiofilm agents, which contain moieties such as imidazole, phenols, indole, triazole, sulfide, furanone, bromopyrrole, peptides, etc. have the potential to disperse bacterial biofilms in vivo and could positively impact human medicine in the future.
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