Many bacteria live as biofilms to cope with unfavourable surroundings. Biofilms start from (i) a planktonic stage, (ii) initial adhesion to surfaces and (iii) formation of sessile micro-colonies that secrete extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), leading to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are extensively studied with regard to planktonic bacteria but much less so with regard to biofilm formation. In the present study, we investigated how the above three steps are affected by the properties of the AMPs using a series of peptides composed of six lysines and nine leucines, which differ in their sequences and hence their biophysical properties. Treatment with bactericidal peptides at non-inhibitory concentrations resulted in reduced biofilm growth, for some starting from 25 nM which is 0.2 and 0.4% of their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC 6.3 and 12.5 μM, respectively), continuing in a dose-dependent manner. We suggest that reduced bacterial adhesion to surfaces and decreased biofilm growth are due to the peptide's ability to coat either the biomaterial surface or the bacterium itself. Degradation of established biofilms by bactericidal and non-bactericidal peptides, within 1 h of incubation, occurs by either killing of embedded bacteria or detachment of live ones. In addition to shedding light on the mechanism of biofilm inhibition and degradation, these data may assist in the design of anti-biofilm AMPs.
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Research Article|
May 22 2015
Mechanisms of biofilm inhibition and degradation by antimicrobial peptides Available to Purchase
L. Segev-Zarko;
L. Segev-Zarko
*Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Ron Saar-Dover;
Ron Saar-Dover
*Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Vlad Brumfeld;
Vlad Brumfeld
†Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Maria Luisa Mangoni;
Maria Luisa Mangoni
‡Department of Biochemical Sciences, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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Yechiel Shai
Yechiel Shai
1
*Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email [email protected]).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 08 2014
Revision Received:
March 10 2015
Accepted:
March 12 2015
Accepted Manuscript online:
March 12 2015
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2015 Biochemical Society
2015
Biochem J (2015) 468 (2): 259–270.
Article history
Received:
October 08 2014
Revision Received:
March 10 2015
Accepted:
March 12 2015
Accepted Manuscript online:
March 12 2015
Citation
L. Segev-Zarko, Ron Saar-Dover, Vlad Brumfeld, Maria Luisa Mangoni, Yechiel Shai; Mechanisms of biofilm inhibition and degradation by antimicrobial peptides. Biochem J 1 June 2015; 468 (2): 259–270. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20141251
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