Cuproptosis to Cuproptosis-Like: Therapeutic Strategies for Bacterial Infection

Bacterial infections have become a serious public health concern worldwide, and the irrational use of antibiotics has led to the proliferation of drug-resistant bacteria, undermining the effectiveness of traditional antibacterial therapies. Cuproptosis is a copper-dependent cell death pathway that has recently been identified as a promising target for drug development and treating bacterial infections. Although bacteria differ from eukaryotes, as they lack mitochondria in their cells, they can still be affected by copper-mediated lethality by binding to lipoylated proteins and leading to abnormal protein aggregation and loss of iron‒sulfur cluster proteins. This review reflects on the similarities and differences between cuproptosis and cuproptosis-like death. In addition, we highlight therapeutic strategies using cuproptosis-like death, including multi-modal combination approaches integrating nanozyme-based chemodynamic therapy, phototherapy, gas therapy and immunomodulation against bacterial infectious diseases. Thus, understanding the mechanism of cuproptosis-like death and developing therapeutic strategies based on this process could contribute to progress in antibacterial treatment.