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Growing a Cystic Fibrosis-Relevant Polymicrobial Biofilm to Probe Community Phenotypes
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Quorum Sensing as Antivirulence Target in Cystic Fibrosis Pathogens

Viola Camilla Scoffone1, Gabriele Trespidi2, Laurent R Chiarelli3

  • 1Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy. viola.scoffone@unipv.it.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|April 25, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients need new treatments due to antibiotic resistance. This review explores antivirulence therapies targeting bacterial quorum sensing (QS) pathways as a promising alternative.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Cystic fibrosis (CF) involves viscous mucus, increasing bacterial lung infections.
  • Antibiotic resistance is a major challenge in treating CF patients.
  • Targeting bacterial virulence pathways offers an alternative to traditional antibiotics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review bacterial pathogens commonly found in CF lung infections.
  • To describe quorum sensing (QS) systems in these pathogens.
  • To identify molecules that target QS pathways for potential antivirulence therapy.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies published in the last five years.
  • Focus on pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cepacia complex, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Haemophilus influenzae, and non-tuberculous Mycobacteria.
  • Analysis of QS systems and potential QS-inhibiting molecules for each pathogen.

Main Results:

  • Detailed description of QS systems for major CF pathogens.
  • Identification of various natural and synthetic molecules targeting QS pathways.
  • Evidence of growing research interest in antivirulence strategies.

Conclusions:

  • Antivirulence therapy targeting QS is a promising alternative to antibiotics for CF infections.
  • Further research into QS inhibitors is warranted.
  • This approach could help combat drug resistance in CF pathogens.
Keywords:
bacterial infectionscystic fibrosisquorum sensing

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