New Horizons to Survive in a Post-Antibiotics Era
Alexander Guevara Agudelo1,2, Liliana Muñoz Molina2, Jeannette Navarrete Ospina2, Luz Mary Salazar Pulido3, Betsy Castro-Cardozo4, Gladys Pinilla Bermúdez2*
1Department of
Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
2Faculty of
Health Sciences, Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, Colombia
3Department of
Chemistry, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
4Bacterial Molecular Genetic Laboratory, Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
*Corresponding author: Gladys Pinilla Bermúdez, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, Colombia. Tel: +5712418800; Fax: +5712841717; Email: gpinillab@unicolmayor.edu.co
Received Date: 24 July, 2018; Accepted Date: 15 August, 2018; Published Date: 24 August, 2018
Citation: Guevara Agudelo A, Muñoz Molina M, Navarrete Ospina J, Salazar Pulido LM, Castro-Cardozo B,
et al. (2018) New Horizons to
Survive in a Post-Antibiotics Era. J Trop Med Health: JTMH-130. DOI: 10.29011/JTMH-130.000030
1. Abstract
New antibiotics have not been developed since the late 80s. This situation poses a disadvantage to fight new multi-resistant emerging bacteria, thus limiting treatment possibilities for infected patients. The use of antibiotics revolutionized the world of modern medicine and allowed the development of fields such as agriculture and livestock. Additionally, the use of antibiotics indisputably led to cure multiple illnesses. Nevertheless, bacterial resistance to antibiotics in recent years has become a world health threat that calls for a coordinated action of many parts involved to address antibiotics resistance. Now a days, new research is being developed to find innovative alternatives to face this problem. In the present work we analyze new trends in the field of synthetic biology research focused on antimicrobial peptides, phage therapy and the use of gene editing tools CRISPR for controlling Multiple Drug Resistant pathogens (MDR).
2.
Keywords: Antimicrobial
Peptides; Microbial Resistance; Phage Therapy
1.
Introduction
The infections caused by bacterial resistance to antibiotics have
increased considerably in recent years and these are the reason for an important
amount of morbidity and mortality worldwide, even in developed countries [1]. There are
emerging Multidrug Resistant Organisms (MDRO) spreading such as S. aureus resistant to methicillin [2], Enterococcos resistant to vancomycin,
and Gram negative bacteria resistant to third-generation cephalosporin’s and
carbapenems [3]. It has been estimated for the next decades that the number of deaths
caused by multiresistant pathogens will be higher than deaths caused by cancer [4]. The steep
rise of bacterial multiresistant pathogens to antibacterial agents has sped up
dramatically in the last 10 years [5]. The
prospects are so somber that even organizations such as the World Health
Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) contemplate the
possibility to consider infections caused by multiresistant pathogens (MDR) as
a global illness emergency and a public health problem [6]. Antibiotics
resistance is a natural phenomenon [7] that occurs in response to the strong
evolutive selective pressure due primarily to the exposure of microorganisms to
such compounds. Point mutations de novo
in a susceptible bacterial population (for example, point mutations in union
sites of ribosomes lends resistance to tetracycline) and the horizontal
diffusion (transfer) of mobile genetic resistance determinants are probably the
reason for the mass use of these drugs in clinics (hospitals) and even in the
agroindustry. This hypothesis, is backed up by the low rates in the resistance
percentages to the antibiotics in groups of pathogen bacterial strains before
the antibiotic Age [8].
From a global point
of view, to understand the evolution and impact of microbial resistance in 2007
the term “resistome” emerged for the collection of all the resistance genes to
the antibiotics and their precursors in pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria;
thus, to understand and study their origins, evolution and resistance
manifestation [9]. The level of understanding of
microbial resistance is constantly growing, given that resistance to
antimicrobial is attributed to natural bacteria in the environment that do not
cause diseases in humans [10,11]. These organisms have evolved
during millions of years to interact, produce and metabolize small molecules
obtaining as a result the development of a broad spectrum of mechanism to
modulate the activities of these compounds. The genes associated to this, often
offer a greater selective advantage, easing the mobilization and horizontal
transfer to other microorganisms that share a specific ecological niche [12]. The release of chemical agents
(disinfectants, heavy metals and other contaminants) to the environment can
accelerate the transfer of resistance genes to the surrounding bacterial
population [13], which leads to an increment in
the selective pressure and possible increase in the number of multiresistance
isolates with evolutionary and adaptive advantages. Human beings have created
ideal environments to bring together human infectious associated bacteria and
microorganisms in the environment, for example, the use of waste water
treatment plants [14], chemical production factories [15], and manure as row material for
crops fertilization [16], create conditions that
facilitate in great manner the mobilization and transfer of resistance genes.
This translates into a collection of perfect scenarios for human bacterial
pathogens and countless microbial generations to acquire a multitude of genetic
elements that confer them adaptive and evolutionary advantages. Antimicrobial
consumption is an important factor to consider in resistance generation,
because there is a direct relation between the volumes and consumption patterns
of antibiotics with the resistance variations to antibiotics in different
countries [17]. The use in excess of
antibiotics in humans and animals is greatly decreasing their activity and is
one of the major threats to health worldwide, food safety and general
sustainable development at the moment. The number of infections resistant to
conventional treatments is on the increase; for example, tuberculosis [18], pneumonia [19], meningitis [20] amongst others, require more and
more complex treatments combining various antibiotic compounds to fight them [21]. The multiple arsenal available
to microorganisms to face antibiotics and protect themselves from their effects
is broad and diverse. These go from mechanisms that include the enzyme
inactivation of the antibiotic, modifications site-specific of the
antimicrobial objective and mechanisms that eliminate toxic intracellular
concentrations of the antibiotic by means of efflux pumps. Thus, showing the
great genome plasticity that microorganisms have to adapt and survive. In spite
of the urgent need of new antibiotics effective against resistant bacteria,
very few compounds are being developed and most of them are similar to the
different known types antibiotics [6]. Under this
scenario, the urgent search of new strategies to combat persistent infections
is an urgent need for the global public health.
2.
Antimicrobial Peptides
Antimicrobial Peptides
(AMPs) are active molecules produced by a broad variety of organism as the main
component in their innate immunological response. The main function of the AMPs
is based in the host defense by means of microbial death; and additionally,
there is solid evidence about their immunomodulation capability in superior
organisms [22]. The AMPs are considered to be
an interesting strategy to fight microbial multiresistance [23]. Their extensive antimicrobial
activity spectrum and bacteria selectivity over eukaryotic cells, makes them
appealing candidates for new pharmaceutical compounds. In fact, attempts to
exploit their potential have been carried out and some of the AMPs have been
tested in clinical trials [24]. Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs)
are effective antibiotic agents present in plants, animals and microorganisms [25]. These molecules have a broad
range of action against bacteria, funguses and viruses. The amphipathic
structure common in AMP favors their interaction and the anionic cellular wall
and phospholipidic membrane insertion in microorganisms [26]. The activity of AMPs is
frequently the result of the cellular membrane alteration. Nevertheless, the
AMP can operate on different cellular targets including DNA [27], RNA [28], and other proteins [29] as a promising alternative compared to
conventional antibiotics [30]. The AMPs are an essential part of the innate immunity that evolved in
most of the living organisms during 2.600 million years to fight the microbial
challenge [31]. These small cationic peptides
are multifunctional as innate immunity effectors on the skin and mucous
surfaces [32]. These have proofed a direct
antimicrobial activity against various bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasite
species [30]. The AMPs have a broad range of
secondary structures such as α-helix, β-pleated sheet with one
or more disulfide bridges, loop and extended‐strands structures [24].
Their multiple structural forms allows them a broad range of
antimicrobial activity. Beside these properties, certain crucial factors such
as size, charge, hydrophobic and amphipathic properties and specific
interactions with the cellular membrane components are attributed to their
broad activity spectrum [33]. One of the most notable features is their small size that eases a
quick diffusion and secretion outside of the cells which is necessary to have
an immediate defense against pathogens [34]. Most of the
antimicrobial peptides are cationic in a physiological pH due to the high
arginine and lysine type of residue in comparison to negatively charged amino
acid residues like glutamic acid and aspartic acid [26]. This occurs
generally in a substantial proportion of hydrophobic residues (≥30%) with a net charge of +2 and +9. Additionally,
the cationic character is usually reinforced by an amide type of modification
in the C-terminal of the sequence [35]. The AMPs commonly adopt amphipathic structures with hydrophobic faces
and hydrophilic ends which grants them union properties to bacterial membranes
by means of electrostatic interactions of the cationic lateral chains of the
amino acids and the polyanionic surfaces of bacterial walls [36]. This is true for the teichoic and lipoteichoic acids in Gram positive
bacteria or the lipopolysaccharides in Gram negative bacteria [37] allowing them to
eliminate specific target cells without damaging the hosts cells [38]. AMP from
different sources have been reported such as insects, plants. Mammals, marine
invertebrates and environmental libraries (Figure 1)
3.
Mechanisms of Action
The size of AMPs can vary from 12 to 50 (or more) amino acids, which are
cationic in general due to the excess of lysine and arginine amino acids.
Approximately 50 % of the amino acids in the sequence are hydrophobic [39] prompting their quick action; they have a quick effect and a broad range
of activity that includes Gram positive bacteria [40], Gram negative
bacteria [41], fungi [42], encapsulated viruses [43], parasites [44]and even cancer cells [45]. In contrast to the antibiotics, the AMP´s
mechanism of action is very different because the latter act as specific
inhibitors for essential pathways in microbial cells; for example, inhibition
of the cell wall synthesis (ß-lactam antibiotics: Penicillin and derivatives),
inhibition of nucleic acids (quinolones: fluoroquinolones) or the inhibition of
important metabolic routes (trimetroprim-sulfametoxazol: Inhibition of the
tetrahydrofolate synthesis route) amongst others. The AMPs due to their broad
structural variety, do not directly address cellular targets like enzymes or
receptors but they address common characteristics of bacterial membranes [46-48]. There is
evidence that the induced membrane permeation by peptides is the result of
their interaction with the lipid matrix of the cells membrane [49,50]. In Gram
negative bacteria the external and internal membrane have anionic molecules
facing towards the outside of the cell whilst most of the peptides are cationic
[37]. These peptides interaction with negatively charged phospholipids would
explain their specificity for bacterial membranes and not for the zwitterionic
lipids of the extracellular layer of eukaryotic cells [51]. In regard
to the mechanism by which AMPs destroy a membrane, it is possible that they
induce a complete rupture of the bacteria or a disruption in such a way that
allows the release of essential cell components at the same time that the
membrane potential is diminished. The initial rupture mechanism consists of
phospholipids recognition through electrostatic interactions.
Once the peptides are united to the membrane, they undergo a structural
reorganization (reconfiguration) that goes from a denaturalized state to an
amphipathic structure. The latter stabilized by the lipid interphase in water [39]. It is
thought that due to this kind of interactions the membrane increases it
permeability; this mechanism has not been established yet and for this reason
the following five main models have been established (Table 1):
4.
Mechanism of Action
for AMPs
5. New Peptides Production
In the same way natural AMPs derivate largely from codified sequences in
genes, bioinformatic methods have been used to create data bases of known AMPs
as well as tools to predict specific AMPs from non-registered genomes. From the
publication of the APD data bases 15 years ago [61] and ANTIMIC [62], various
data bases have been created to emphasize certain features of AMPs, grouping
them in different categories for example: natural, synthetic or recombined
peptides (circular peptides, defensins and thiopeptides) [63,64]. There are data bases grouping AMPs based on their origins (human,
bacteria, plants, insects and amphibian) [65,66]. The DADP data base
amphibian peptides only [67].
More recently, the YADAMP [68], CAMP [69] and LAMP [70] data bases were created. A significant amount of research is focusing
currently in the development of new AMPs for biomedical, therapeutic and
biotechnological applications; the current methods to look for new functions
and features of AMPs in the almost limitless known and predicted peptide
sequences (empirically or computationally) are continuously evolving. Three
clear known research approaches in this field can be distinguished: known AMP
sequence modifications (so-called templates), biophysical modeling to
understand the peptide activity and virtual screening [70]. The current
methodologies used for AMPs library construction have advantages and
disadvantages regarding the design of sequences, for example, the length of the
sequence or the size to the library. Technics based on Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR) such as saturation site-directed mutagenesis [71,72] DNA shuffling [73], were the randomly generated nucleic acid libraries that codify AMPs
are expressed in the biological host have great complexity and the peptide
length is not restricted in most cases because the mutations are randomly
introduced. Nevertheless, to control of the sequence design by the user is very
limited in these technics. On the other hand, the combinatory synthetic methods
allows a sequence design customizing a variety of features in the sequences perse. This reason, the latter
methodology has been implemented successfully to generate combinatory libraries
of AMPs [74-76]. However, these methods still
are limited by the size of the peptide sequence (optimal length up to 20 amino
acids), as well as the large library due to the hard work in production and high
costs associated to the complex chemical synthesis [77]. Build libraries
that codify AMPs from a combination of oligonucleotides is comprised of 5 steps
(Figure 2); the first three steps and the last step are essential for the
technic, nonetheless the forth step can vary based on the appropriate
expression host election for the library of interest.
Various AMP have been developed successfully for pharmaceutical and commercial proposes [79]. Information about the structure and sequence of approximately 2846 AMPs from different sources can be found in databases all over the world [61]. Representative AMPs currently undergoing clinical trials are shown in (Table 2). Nevertheless, for this compounds to fulfil their therapeutic purpose and surpass clinical impasses more studies are necessary to understand their mechanism of action and reduce the potential of undesired cytotoxicity while conferring them more resistance to protease degradation, improving the half-life in peripheral blood and establishing a reliable and profitable mass production process.
Many of the AMPs have been tested in prophylactic therapy and therapeutic agents against biofilm formation in in vitro and in vivo [80,81]. Given the AMPs capability to act quickly on a broad spectrum of bacteria, including slow growing bacteria and non-growing bacteria [82], their effect on the different stages of the biofilm formation and the few selection of resistant strains are attractive features for their use as an alternative amongst the current low efficient antibiotics. On the other hand, the use of AMPs as immunomodulation agents have drawn great interest due to the role that cationic AMPs could perform in the innate immune modulating response, boosting the infection resolution by stimulating the host’s own immunity [83] while controlling the potential pro-inflammatory damage.
6. Non-conventional Therapeutic Alternatives
There has been a new interest in non-traditional antimicrobial agents, especially in those generated by means of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. This due to the concerning rate growth of multiresistant bacterial pathogens specifically in hospitals in the last decades, as well as the gradual decline of new antibiotic compounds discoveries [84]. The search for new alternatives to the conventional antibiotics has become an important research goal. Two current alternatives in constant development are described below.
7. Bacteriophage Against Resistant Bacteria - Medicines as a Customized Therapy
Phage therapy refers to the use of bacteriophage (or simply phages, viruses that infect bacteria) to treat bacterial infections [85]. Bacteriophage are very abundant [86] and it is believed that each bacteria has its own specific virus that could be used as an antibacterial agent [86-88]. Historically, phages were used therapeutically at the beginning of the 20th century [89]. Nevertheless, the discovery of highly effective antibiotics slowed down the development of phage therapy in western countries and only when the antibiotics started to fail the old tool resume its development [90]. However, this second comeback of phage therapy phases challenges related with strict regulations and the development of an effective therapeutic practice [91-92]. Nonetheless, phage therapy provides an evolutive sustainable alternative to conventional antibiotics [93], if we could only adjust our regulations and procedures to meet the special requirements of phage based medicine [94-95]. It is important to highlight that phages infect bacteria in a very selective manner. The narrow spectrum of hosts is often considered an advantage over traditional antibiotics because phage treatment con focus with accuracy on the pathogen without damaging the commensal intestinal flora [91]. Bacteria can quickly develop phage resistance as well and consequently the antibacterial effect could only be transitory [96]. When a group of different phages is used simultaneously in a phage cocktail, resistance development becomes less likely [97], but it is difficult to obtain an effective phage group against all variations of a specific pathogen [98]. There can be a compensation between the spectrum of bacterial targets and the therapeutic efficiency of a phage cocktail for a specific bacteria species. This happens whenever the number of phages in a cocktail are increase in an attempt to broaden the number of bacterial targets, the number of phage for a specific microbial strain can be reduced [99]. Therefore, the phage specificity to microbial cells, though benefic in theory, poses a practical problem when it is combined to treat resistant phenotypes that quickly emerge. For this reason, the therapeutic use of phages is considered a possible alternative to conventional antibiotics. Bacteria add foreign DNA or RNA inside their own genetic code and promote gene dispersion from a species to another through the phage translation, transformation or the connective plasmids and increases antibiotic resistance by Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT). This allows bacteria to adapt to an ecologic variety and protect it against environmental pressures such are the antibiotics.
8. Funding
This work was financially supported by the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation/Colciencias grant # 115965741372 Contract #657-2014.
9. Competing Interests
The authors declare
that they have no competing interests.
Figure 1: NMR
structures of antimicrobial peptides obtained from different origins. a) Human cathelicidin LL-37 (PMID
18818205 ;), b) Human β- defensin-1
(PMID 17071614 ;), c) Arenicin-2 (Arenicola marina PMID 17585874 ;), d) Cecropin A (Hyalophora cecropia PMID 10424354 ;).
Figure 2: Building
process and AMPs library election. Image modified by [78].
Mechanism of action for AMPs |
Folder Model |
Membrane reduction |
|||
The peptides are not inserted into the membrane but remain linked to
the external surface; once they reach a critical point they transformed into
a carpet like shape capable of weakening the membrane and collapsing into a
mycelium configuration. |
The AMPs are inserted only on one side of the lipid bilayer. They can
create a space in between the lipid molecules in the chain area. This space
in between creates a force that pulls the other neighbor lipid molecules in
order to fill it. |
||||
Reference |
[52,53] |
[54,55] |
|||
Aggregation |
Toroidal pores |
Barrel model |
|||
In this model, the peptide merges with the membrane and at the right
concentration it reconfigures to form mycelia
like structure that stretches out across the bilayer in a lipid-peptide
complex. These random lipid-peptide transmembrane aggregates in water form a
canal that releases ions and produces cellular death due to the loss of cytoplasm
content. |
The peptides merge with the membrane when reaching a limit
concentration that makes the lipids bend, forming a canal defined by the head
of the lipidic groups (associated) to the peptides. These form a mixed canal
of the peptide and the lipids from the membrane. |
Once the AMPs interact with the membrane and reach a critical level of
peptide and lipid, the peptides reconfigure in a perpendicular fashion
forming a palisade with the side of the hydrophobic chains facing the
hydrophobic center of the membrane and its polar chains and face the center
forming a hydrophilic pore. |
|||
[56,57] |
[58,59] |
[32,60] |
Table 1: Proposed activity mechanism for AMPs.
Anti-microbial peptides in clinical trials or in
development |
|||||||||
Name |
AMP derivative |
Description |
Company / Location |
Structure |
Administration |
Indication |
Phase |
Clinical Trials Identifier |
References |
Pexiganan acetate (MSI-78) |
Magainin-2 (Xenopus frog skin) |
Synthetic cathionic peptide analog of indolicidin (bovine) |
Dipexium Pharma (White Plains |
α-Helix |
Cream |
Skin and soft tissue infections and diabetic ulcers |
1 and 3 |
NCT01590758 |
(“Homepage of dipexium pharmaceuticals. Available from: https://plxpharma.com/dipexium-plx-merger/ |
Omiganan (MBI-226) |
Indolicidin |
Synthetic 24-mer peptide binding to lipopolysaccharides or
lipoteichoic acid |
Microbiologix Biotech Vancouver |
α-helical |
Cream |
Rosacea |
2 |
NCT00608959 |
(Sader,Fedler,Rennie,Stevens&Jones 2004) |
OP-145 |
LL37 |
Cationic antifungal peptide that has been formulated as a brush |
OctoPlus; Leiden University |
α-Helix |
Eardrops |
Chronic bacterial middle |
2 |
NCT01071902 |
(Malanovic et al., 2015) |
Novexatin (NP213) |
Fungicidal Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) |
Broad spectrum synthetic antimicrobial peptidomimetic |
NovaBiotics (Aberdeen |
Cyclic arginine-based heptamer |
Topical |
Treatment onychomycosis |
1 and 2 |
NCT02343627 |
(“Homepage of NovaBiotics. Available from: http://www.novabiotics.co.uk/pipeline/novexatin-np213,”
n.d.) |
Lytixar (LTX-109) |
L-Arginamide |
Type B lantibiotic (lanthionine-containing antibiotics) selectivity Clostridium difficile |
Lytix Biopharma (Oslo) |
N/A |
Topical |
Nasal decolonisation of MRSA |
2 |
NCT01158235 |
(“Homepage of Lytix Biopharma. Available from:
http://www.lytixbiopharma.com/news/152/252/Successful-Proof-of-Concept-for-topical-antimicrobial-drug-Lytixar-LTX-109.html,”
n.d.) |
NVB302 |
Posttranslationally modified
peptides (lantibiotics) |
22-amino acid lantibiotic produced by Streptococcus mutans |
Novacta (Welwyn Garden City |
N/A |
Oral |
Treat hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection |
1 |
NVB302/001 |
(Boakes & Dawson, 2014) |
MU1140 |
Lantibiotics |
21 amino acids Antimicrobial
peptide |
Oragenics (Tampa |
N/A |
N/A |
Treat resistant S. aureus and resistant Enterococcus faecalis |
Preclinical |
N/A |
(Kang, Liao, Wester, Leeder, & Pearce, 2010) |
Arenicin |
Lugworm Arenicola marina |
bridging |
Adenium Biotech Copenhagen |
N/A |
N/A |
Multiresistant Gram-positive bacteria |
Preclinical |
N/A |
(Panteleev, Bolosov, Balandin, & Ovchinnikova, 2015) |
Iseganan (IB-367) |
Protegrin (pig leukocytes) |
Antimicrobial peptide under development for the prevention of oral
mucositis |
Intrabiotics Pharmaceuticals |
Peptide containing two disulfide bonds |
Oral/ aerosol |
Mouthwash |
3 |
N/A |
(Giles et al., 2 |
Table 2:
Anti-microbial peptides in clinical trials or in development.
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