# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 9543 | 0 | 1.0000 | Antisense RNA regulation and application in the development of novel antibiotics to combat multidrug resistant bacteria. Despite the availability of antibiotics and vaccines, infectious diseases remain one of most dangerous threats to humans and animals. The overuse and misuse of antibacterial agents have led to the emergence of multidrug resistant bacterial pathogens. Bacterial cells are often resilient enough to survive in even the most extreme environments. To do so, the organisms have evolved different mechanisms, including a variety of two-component signal transduction systems, which allow the bacteria to sense the surrounding environment and regulate gene expression in order to adapt and respond to environmental stimuli. In addition, some bacteria evolve resistance to antibacterial agents while many bacterial cells are able to acquire resistance genes from other bacterial species to enable them to survive in the presence of toxic antimicrobial agents. The crisis of antimicrobial resistance is an unremitting menace to human health and a burden on public health. The rapid increase in antimicrobial resistant organisms and limited options for development of new classes of antibiotics heighten the urgent need to develop novel potent antibacterial therapeutics in order to combat multidrug resistant infections. In this review, we introduce the regulatory mechanisms of antisense RNA and significant applications of regulated antisense RNA interference technology in early drug discovery. This includes the identification and evaluation of drug targets in vitro and in vivo, the determination of mode of action for antibiotics and new antibacterial agents, as well as the development of peptide-nucleic acid conjugates as novel antibacterials. | 2013 | 23738437 |
| 9542 | 1 | 0.9999 | Development of quorum-based anti-virulence therapeutics targeting Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Quorum sensing is a cell density-dependent signaling phenomenon used by bacteria for coordination of population-wide phenotypes, such as expression of virulence genes, antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation. Lately, disruption of bacterial communication has emerged as an anti-virulence strategy with enormous therapeutic potential given the increasing incidences of drug resistance in pathogenic bacteria. The quorum quenching therapeutic approach promises a lower risk of resistance development, since interference with virulence generally does not affect the growth and fitness of the bacteria and, hence, does not exert an associated selection pressure for drug-resistant strains. With better understanding of bacterial communication networks and mechanisms, many quorum quenching methods have been developed against various clinically significant bacterial pathogens. In particular, Gram-negative bacteria are an important group of pathogens, because, collectively, they are responsible for the majority of hospital-acquired infections. Here, we discuss the current understanding of existing quorum sensing mechanisms and present important inhibitory strategies that have been developed against this group of pathogenic bacteria. | 2013 | 23939429 |
| 9546 | 2 | 0.9999 | Challenge in the Discovery of New Drugs: Antimicrobial Peptides against WHO-List of Critical and High-Priority Bacteria. Bacterial resistance has intensified in recent years due to the uncontrolled use of conventional drugs, and new bacterial strains with multiple resistance have been reported. This problem may be solved by using antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which fulfill their bactericidal activity without developing much bacterial resistance. The rapid interaction between AMPs and the bacterial cell membrane means that the bacteria cannot easily develop resistance mechanisms. In addition, various drugs for clinical use have lost their effect as a conventional treatment; however, the synergistic effect of AMPs with these drugs would help to reactivate and enhance antimicrobial activity. Their efficiency against multi-resistant and extensively resistant bacteria has positioned them as promising molecules to replace or improve conventional drugs. In this review, we examined the importance of antimicrobial peptides and their successful activity against critical and high-priority bacteria published in the WHO list. | 2021 | 34064302 |
| 9126 | 3 | 0.9999 | The Exploration of Complement-Resistance Mechanisms of Pathogenic Gram-Negative Bacteria to Support the Development of Novel Therapeutics. Resistance to antibiotics in Bacteria is one of the biggest threats to human health. After decades of attempting to isolate or design antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action against bacterial pathogens, few approaches have been successful. Antibacterial drug discovery is now moving towards targeting bacterial virulence factors, especially immune evasion factors. Gram-negative bacteria present some of the most significant challenges in terms of antibiotic resistance. However, they are also able to be eliminated by the component of the innate immune system known as the complement system. In response, Gram-negative bacteria have evolved a variety of mechanisms by which they are able to evade complement and cause infection. Complement resistance mechanisms present some of the best novel therapeutic targets for defending against highly antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacterial infections. | 2022 | 36015050 |
| 9545 | 4 | 0.9999 | MDR Pumps as Crossroads of Resistance: Antibiotics and Bacteriophages. At present, antibiotic resistance represents a global problem in modern medicine. In the near future, humanity may face a situation where medicine will be powerless against resistant bacteria and a post-antibiotic era will come. The development of new antibiotics is either very expensive or ineffective due to rapidly developing bacterial resistance. The need to develop alternative approaches to the treatment of bacterial infections, such as phage therapy, is beyond doubt. The cornerstone of bacterial defense against antibiotics are multidrug resistance (MDR) pumps, which are involved in antibiotic resistance, toxin export, biofilm, and persister cell formation. MDR pumps are the primary non-specific defense of bacteria against antibiotics, while drug target modification, drug inactivation, target switching, and target sequestration are the second, specific line of their defense. All bacteria have MDR pumps, and bacteriophages have evolved along with them and use the bacteria's need for MDR pumps to bind and penetrate into bacterial cells. The study and understanding of the mechanisms of the pumps and their contribution to the overall resistance and to the sensitivity to bacteriophages will allow us to either seriously delay the onset of the post-antibiotic era or even prevent it altogether due to phage-antibiotic synergy. | 2022 | 35740141 |
| 9127 | 5 | 0.9999 | Antimicrobial Peptides: Virulence and Resistance Modulation in Gram-Negative Bacteria. Growing resistance to antibiotics is one of the biggest threats to human health. One of the possibilities to overcome this resistance is to use and develop alternative molecules such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). However, an increasing number of studies have shown that bacterial resistance to AMPs does exist. Since AMPs are immunity molecules, it is important to ensure that their potential therapeutic use is not harmful in the long term. Recently, several studies have focused on the adaptation of Gram-negative bacteria to subinhibitory concentrations of AMPs. Such concentrations are commonly found in vivo and in the environment. It is therefore necessary to understand how bacteria detect and respond to low concentrations of AMPs. This review focuses on recent findings regarding the impact of subinhibitory concentrations of AMPs on the modulation of virulence and resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. | 2020 | 32092866 |
| 9541 | 6 | 0.9999 | The Role of the Hfq Protein in Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics: A Narrative Review. The antibiotic resistance of pathogenic microorganisms is currently one of most major medical problems, causing a few million deaths every year worldwide due to untreatable bacterial infections. Unfortunately, the prognosis is even worse, as over 8 million deaths associated with antibiotic resistance are expected to occur in 2050 if no new effective antibacterial treatments are discovered. The Hfq protein has been discovered as a bacterial RNA chaperone. However, subsequent studies have indicated that this small protein (composed of 102 amino acid residues in Escherichia coli) has more activities, including binding to DNA and influencing its compaction, interaction with biological membranes, formation of amyloid-like structures, and others. Although Hfq is known to participate in many cellular processes, perhaps surprisingly, only reports from recent years have demonstrated its role in bacterial antibiotic resistance. The aim of this narrative review is to discuss how can Hfq affects antibiotic resistance in bacteria and propose how this knowledge may facilitate developing new therapeutic strategies against pathogenic bacteria. We indicate that the mechanisms by which the Hfq protein modulates the response of bacterial cells to antibiotics are quite different, from the regulation of the expression of genes coding for proteins directly involved in antibiotic transportation or action, through direct effects on membranes, to controlling the replication or transposition of mobile genetic elements bearing antibiotic resistance genes. Therefore, we suggest that Hfq could be considered a potential target for novel antimicrobial compounds. We also discuss difficulties in developing such drugs, but since Hfq appears to be a promising target for drugs that may enhance the efficacy of antibiotics, we propose that works on such potential therapeutics are encouraged. | 2025 | 40005731 |
| 9520 | 7 | 0.9999 | Role of Natural Product in Modulation of Drug Transporters and New Delhi Metallo-β Lactamases. A rapid growth in drug resistance has brought options for treating antimicrobial resistance to a halt. Bacteria have evolved to accumulate a multitude of genes that encode resistance for a single drug within a single cell. Alternations of drug transporters are one of the causes for the development of resistance in drug interactions. Conversely, the production of enzymes also inactivates most antibiotics. The discovery of newer classes of antibiotics and drugs from natural products is urgently needed. Alternative medicines play an integral role in countries across the globe but many require validation for treatment strategies. It is essential to explore this chemical diversity in order to find novel drugs with specific activities which can be used as alternative drug targets. This review describes the interaction of drugs with resistant pathogens with a special focus on natural product-derived efflux pump and carbapenemase inhibitors. | 2019 | 30987566 |
| 9129 | 8 | 0.9999 | Overcoming Intrinsic and Acquired Resistance Mechanisms Associated with the Cell Wall of Gram-Negative Bacteria. The global increase in multi-drug-resistant bacteria is severely impacting our ability to effectively treat common infections. For Gram-negative bacteria, their intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms are heightened by their unique cell wall structure. The cell wall, while being a target of some antibiotics, represents a barrier due to the inability of most antibacterial compounds to traverse and reach their intended target. This means that its composition and resulting mechanisms of resistance must be considered when developing new therapies. Here, we discuss potential antibiotic targets within the most well-characterised resistance mechanisms associated with the cell wall in Gram-negative bacteria, including the outer membrane structure, porins and efflux pumps. We also provide a timely update on the current progress of inhibitor development in these areas. Such compounds could represent new avenues for drug discovery as well as adjuvant therapy to help us overcome antibiotic resistance. | 2020 | 32961699 |
| 9544 | 9 | 0.9999 | Nano-Strategies to Fight Multidrug Resistant Bacteria-"A Battle of the Titans". Infectious diseases remain one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The WHO and CDC have expressed serious concern regarding the continued increase in the development of multidrug resistance among bacteria. Therefore, the antibiotic resistance crisis is one of the most pressing issues in global public health. Associated with the rise in antibiotic resistance is the lack of new antimicrobials. This has triggered initiatives worldwide to develop novel and more effective antimicrobial compounds as well as to develop novel delivery and targeting strategies. Bacteria have developed many ways by which they become resistant to antimicrobials. Among those are enzyme inactivation, decreased cell permeability, target protection, target overproduction, altered target site/enzyme, increased efflux due to over-expression of efflux pumps, among others. Other more complex phenotypes, such as biofilm formation and quorum sensing do not appear as a result of the exposure of bacteria to antibiotics although, it is known that biofilm formation can be induced by antibiotics. These phenotypes are related to tolerance to antibiotics in bacteria. Different strategies, such as the use of nanostructured materials, are being developed to overcome these and other types of resistance. Nanostructured materials can be used to convey antimicrobials, to assist in the delivery of novel drugs or ultimately, possess antimicrobial activity by themselves. Additionally, nanoparticles (e.g., metallic, organic, carbon nanotubes, etc.) may circumvent drug resistance mechanisms in bacteria and, associated with their antimicrobial potential, inhibit biofilm formation or other important processes. Other strategies, including the combined use of plant-based antimicrobials and nanoparticles to overcome toxicity issues, are also being investigated. Coupling nanoparticles and natural-based antimicrobials (or other repurposed compounds) to inhibit the activity of bacterial efflux pumps; formation of biofilms; interference of quorum sensing; and possibly plasmid curing, are just some of the strategies to combat multidrug resistant bacteria. However, the use of nanoparticles still presents a challenge to therapy and much more research is needed in order to overcome this. In this review, we will summarize the current research on nanoparticles and other nanomaterials and how these are or can be applied in the future to fight multidrug resistant bacteria. | 2018 | 30013539 |
| 9128 | 10 | 0.9999 | Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobial Peptides in the Modern Era: An Updated Review. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious global health concern, resulting in a significant number of deaths annually due to infections that are resistant to treatment. Amidst this crisis, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics (ATBs). These cationic peptides, naturally produced by all kingdoms of life, play a crucial role in the innate immune system of multicellular organisms and in bacterial interspecies competition by exhibiting broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. AMPs target bacterial pathogens through multiple mechanisms, most importantly by disrupting their membranes, leading to cell lysis. However, bacterial resistance to host AMPs has emerged due to a slow co-evolutionary process between microorganisms and their hosts. Alarmingly, the development of resistance to last-resort AMPs in the treatment of MDR infections, such as colistin, is attributed to the misuse of this peptide and the high rate of horizontal genetic transfer of the corresponding resistance genes. AMP-resistant bacteria employ diverse mechanisms, including but not limited to proteolytic degradation, extracellular trapping and inactivation, active efflux, as well as complex modifications in bacterial cell wall and membrane structures. This review comprehensively examines all constitutive and inducible molecular resistance mechanisms to AMPs supported by experimental evidence described to date in bacterial pathogens. We also explore the specificity of these mechanisms toward structurally diverse AMPs to broaden and enhance their potential in developing and applying them as therapeutics for MDR bacteria. Additionally, we provide insights into the significance of AMP resistance within the context of host-pathogen interactions. | 2024 | 39065030 |
| 9440 | 11 | 0.9999 | The Case against Antibiotics and for Anti-Virulence Therapeutics. Although antibiotics have been indispensable in the advancement of modern medicine, there are downsides to their use. Growing resistance to broad-spectrum antibiotics is leading to an epidemic of infections untreatable by first-line therapies. Resistance is exacerbated by antibiotics used as growth factors in livestock, over-prescribing by doctors, and poor treatment adherence by patients. This generates populations of resistant bacteria that can then spread resistance genes horizontally to other bacterial species, including commensals. Furthermore, even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they harm commensal bacteria leading to increased secondary infection risk. Effective antibiotic treatment can induce bacterial survival tactics, such as toxin release and increasing resistance gene transfer. These problems highlight the need for new approaches to treating bacterial infection. Current solutions include combination therapies, narrow-spectrum therapeutics, and antibiotic stewardship programs. These mediate the issues but do not address their root cause. One emerging solution to these problems is anti-virulence treatment: preventing bacterial pathogenesis instead of using bactericidal agents. In this review, we discuss select examples of potential anti-virulence targets and strategies that could be developed into bacterial infection treatments: the bacterial type III secretion system, quorum sensing, and liposomes. | 2021 | 34683370 |
| 9130 | 12 | 0.9999 | Glycopeptide antibiotic resistance. Glycopeptide antibiotics are integral components of the current antibiotic arsenal that is under strong pressures as a result of the emergence of a variety of resistance mechanisms over the past 15 years. Resistance has manifested itself largely through the expression of genes that encode proteins that reprogram cell wall biosynthesis and thus evade the action of the antibiotic in the enterococci, though recently new mechanisms have appeared that afford resistance and tolerance in the more virulent staphylococci and streptococci. Overcoming glycopeptide resistance will require innovative approaches to generate new antibiotics or otherwise to inhibit the action of resistance elements in various bacteria. The chemical complexity of the glycopeptides, the challenges of discovering and successfully exploiting new targets, and the growing number of distinct resistance types all increase the difficulty of the current problem we face as a result of the emergence of glycopeptide resistance. | 2002 | 11807177 |
| 9597 | 13 | 0.9999 | Role of xenobiotic transporters in bacterial drug resistance and virulence. Since the discovery of antibiotic therapeutics, the battles between humans and infectious diseases have never been stopped. Humans always face the appearance of a new bacterial drug-resistant strain followed by new antibiotic development. However, as the genome sequences of infectious bacteria have been gradually determined, a completely new approach has opened. This approach can analyze the entire gene resources of bacterial drug resistance. Through analysis, it may be possible to discover the underlying mechanism of drug resistance that will appear in the future. In this review article, we will first introduce the method to analyze all the xenobiotic transporter genes by using the genomic information. Next, we will discuss the regulation of xenobiotic transporter gene expression through the two-component signal transduction system, the principal environmental sensing and response system in bacteria. Furthermore, we will also introduce the virulence roles of xenobiotic transporters, which is an ongoing research area. | 2008 | 18481812 |
| 9486 | 14 | 0.9999 | Acquired Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics and Resistance Genes: From Past to Future. The discovery, commercialization, and regular administration of antimicrobial agents have revolutionized the therapeutic paradigm, making it possible to treat previously untreatable and fatal infections. However, the excessive use of antibiotics has led to develop resistance soon after their use in clinical practice, to the point of becoming a global emergency. The mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics are manifold, including mechanisms of destruction or inactivation, target site modification, or active efflux, and represent the main examples of evolutionary adaptation for the survival of bacterial species. The acquirement of new resistance mechanisms is a consequence of the great genetic plasticity of bacteria, which triggers specific responses that result in mutational adaptation, acquisition of genetic material, or alteration of gene expression, virtually producing resistance to all currently available antibiotics. Understanding resistance processes is critical to the development of new antimicrobial agents to counteract drug-resistant microorganisms. In this review, both the mechanisms of action of antibiotic resistance (AMR) and the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) mainly found in clinical and environmental bacteria will be reviewed. Furthermore, the evolutionary background of multidrug-resistant bacteria will be examined, and some promising elements to control or reduce the emergence and spread of AMR will be proposed. | 2025 | 40149034 |
| 9516 | 15 | 0.9999 | Genetic Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance and the Role of Antibiotic Adjuvants. The ever increasing number of multidrug-resistant microorganism pathogens has become a great and global public health threat. Antibiotic mechanisms of action and the opposing mechanisms of resistance are intimately associated, but comprehension of the biochemical and molecular functions of such drugs is not a simple exercise. Both the environment, and genetic settings contribute to alterations in phenotypic resistance (natural bacterial evolution), and make it difficult to control the emergence and impacts of antibiotic resistance. Under such circumstances, comprehension of how bacteria develop and/or acquire antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) has a critical role in developing propositions to fight against these superbugs, and to search for new drugs. In this review, we present and discuss both general information and examples of common genetic and molecular mechanisms related to antibiotic resistance, as well as how the expression and interactions of ARGs are important to drug resistance. At the same time, we focus on the recent achievements in the search for antibiotic adjuvants, which help combat antibiotic resistance through deactivation of bacterial mechanisms of action such as β-lactamases. Recent advances involving the use of anti-resistance drugs such as: efflux pump inhibitors; anti-virulence drugs; drugs against quorum sensing; and against type II/III secretion systems are revealed. Such antibiotic adjuvants (as explored herein) collaborate against the problems of antibiotic resistance, and may restore or prolong the therapeutic activity of known antibiotics. | 2018 | 29412107 |
| 9537 | 16 | 0.9998 | Antimicrobial Resistance and Inorganic Nanoparticles. Antibiotics are being less effective, which leads to high mortality in patients with infections and a high cost for the recovery of health, and the projections that are had for the future are not very encouraging which has led to consider antimicrobial resistance as a global health problem and to be the object of study by researchers. Although resistance to antibiotics occurs naturally, its appearance and spread have been increasing rapidly due to the inappropriate use of antibiotics in recent decades. A bacterium becomes resistant due to the transfer of genes encoding antibiotic resistance. Bacteria constantly mutate; therefore, their defense mechanisms mutate, as well. Nanotechnology plays a key role in antimicrobial resistance due to materials modified at the nanometer scale, allowing large numbers of molecules to assemble to have a dynamic interface. These nanomaterials act as carriers, and their design is mainly focused on introducing the temporal and spatial release of the payload of antibiotics. In addition, they generate new antimicrobial modalities for the bacteria, which are not capable of protecting themselves. So, nanoparticles are an adjunct mechanism to improve drug potency by reducing overall antibiotic exposure. These nanostructures can overcome cell barriers and deliver antibiotics to the cytoplasm to inhibit bacteria. This work aims to give a general vision between the antibiotics, the nanoparticles used as carriers, bacteria resistance, and the possible mechanisms that occur between them. | 2021 | 34884695 |
| 9487 | 17 | 0.9998 | Molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance revisited. Antibiotic resistance is a global health emergency, with resistance detected to all antibiotics currently in clinical use and only a few novel drugs in the pipeline. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use to resist the action of antimicrobials is critical to recognize global patterns of resistance and to improve the use of current drugs, as well as for the design of new drugs less susceptible to resistance development and novel strategies to combat resistance. In this Review, we explore recent advances in understanding how resistance genes contribute to the biology of the host, new structural details of relevant molecular events underpinning resistance, the identification of new resistance gene families and the interactions between different resistance mechanisms. Finally, we discuss how we can use this information to develop the next generation of antimicrobial therapies. | 2023 | 36411397 |
| 9137 | 18 | 0.9998 | Virulence- and antibiotic resistance-associated two-component signal transduction systems of Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria as targets for antimicrobial therapy. Two-component signal transduction systems are central elements of the virulence and antibiotic resistance responses of opportunistic bacterial pathogens. These systems allow the bacterium to sense and respond to signals emanating from the host environment and to modulate the repertoire of genes expressed to allow invasion and growth in the host. The integral role of two-component systems in virulence and antibiotic sensitivity, and the existence of essential two-component systems in several pathogenic bacteria, suggests that these systems may be novel targets for antimicrobial intervention. This review discusses the potential use of two-component systems as targets for antimicrobial therapy against Gram-positive pathogens and the current status in the development of inhibitors specific for these systems. | 2002 | 12191621 |
| 9814 | 19 | 0.9998 | Antisense antimicrobial therapeutics. Antisense antimicrobial therapeutics are synthetic oligomers that silence expression of specific genes. This specificity confers an advantage over broad-spectrum antibiotics by avoiding unintended effects on commensal bacteria. The sequence-specificity and short length of antisense antimicrobials also pose little risk to human gene expression. Because antisense antimicrobials are a platform technology, they can be rapidly designed and synthesized to target almost any microbe. This reduces drug discovery time, and provides flexibility and a rational approach to drug development. Recent work has shown that antisense technology has the potential to address the antibiotic-resistance crisis, since resistance mechanisms for standard antibiotics apparently have no effect on antisense antimicrobials. Here, we describe current reports of antisense antimicrobials targeted against viruses, parasites, and bacteria. | 2016 | 27375107 |