A Synthetic Phage-Peptide Conjugate as a Potent Antibacterial Agent for <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Infections.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative organisms is a major challenge. Some molecules, including antimicrobial peptides such as polymyxin B (PMB), are antibacterial but toxic due to low specificity, causing poor clinical utility. Drug delivery to bacterial cells using a biocompatible nanomaterial is a possible approach to securing such drugs. We engineered a nonlytic phage to recognize the lipopolysaccharide of Gram-negative bacteria and cross-linked thousands of peptides per virion, making "PMB-M13^αLPS". PMB-M13^αLPS reduced the minimum inhibitory concentration in vitro by ∼2 orders of magnitude across multiple pathogen strains. Immunocompetent mice with multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa pneumonia or corneal infection were effectively treated by PMB-M

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12464783 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature