Discovery of novel S. aureus autolysins and molecular engineering to enhance bacteriolytic activity.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus is a dangerous bacterial pathogen whose clinical impact has been amplified by the emergence and rapid spread of antibiotic resistance. In the search for more effective therapeutic strategies, great effort has been placed on the study and development of staphylolytic enzymes, which benefit from high potency activity toward drug-resistant strains, and a low inherent susceptibility to emergence of new resistance phenotypes. To date, the majority of therapeutic candidates have derived from either bacteriophage or environmental competitors of S. aureus. Little to no consideration has been given to cis-acting autolysins that represent key elements in the bacterium's endogenous cell wall maintenance and recycling machinery. In this study, five putative autolysins were cloned

SUBMITTER: Osipovitch DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4499002 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature