Anti-infective Properties of Natural Products

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 1361

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, King Saud University, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia
Interests: PCR; antimicrobials; microbial molecular biology; molecular microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04360, Mexico
Interests: bacteria; quorum sensing; resistance; virulence; drug repurposing; stress response; social cheating

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The bullish rise of drug resistance among pathogens has raised serious alarms regarding the treatment of infections. Drug resistance to antimicrobial agents has made current antibiotic therapies ineffective, leading to persistent infections that have incurred huge economic losses. There is thus an urgent need for novel antimicrobial agents able to counter the menace of antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR). Some alternative strategies for dealing with drug resistance include targeting the resistance mechanisms, such as inhibiting efflux pumps or beta-lactamases. Further, some approaches act on the virulence functions, quorum sensing and biofilms of pathogens and render them ineffective. These antimicrobial strategies reduce selective pressure on the microbial pathogens, eventually leading to decreased resistance.

Lead compounds for overcoming antimicrobial drug resistance from various natural products are well documented. In the last 35 years, around 60% natural-product-derived antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antiparasitic drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Yet only a small number of natural products have been explored for anti-infective properties against pathogenic microbes. This Special Issue aims to shed light on recent discoveries of novel anti-infectives from natural products, including their mechanisms of actions, in silico studies, synergistic action with known drugs and in vivo studies. We welcome research as well as review articles for this Special Issue.

Dr. Fohad Mabood Husain
Dr. Rodolfo Garcia-Contreras
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • natural products
  • anti-infectives
  • virulence
  • drug resistance
  • efflux pump
  • quorum sensing
  • biofilm
  • synergy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 4365 KiB  
Article
An Evaluation of the Usability of Argon Plasma-Treated Bacterial Cellulose as a Carrier for Controlled Releases of Glycoside Hydrolases PelAh and PslGh, Which Are Able to Eradicate Biofilm
by Magdalena Charęza, Ewa Ekiert, Dariusz Moszyński, Mariusz Madej, Magdalena Jędrzejczak-Silicka and Radosław Drozd
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(13), 7797; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137797 - 01 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1042
Abstract
Bacterial cellulose is a unique biopolymer that has found numerous biomedical applications, such as being an excellent wound-dressing material or a carrier for delivering active compounds. The purpose of this study was to analyze the ability of modified bacterial cellulose (BC) using low-pressure [...] Read more.
Bacterial cellulose is a unique biopolymer that has found numerous biomedical applications, such as being an excellent wound-dressing material or a carrier for delivering active compounds. The purpose of this study was to analyze the ability of modified bacterial cellulose (BC) using low-pressure Ar plasma to control the release of glycoside hydrolases with antibiofilm activity, namely PelAh and PslGh, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The chemical composition and morphology of the BC surfaces were characterized using photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analyses revealed significant changes in the chemical composition of the BC surface due to the introduction of charged functional groups and the conversion of its well-ordered structure into a more amorphous form. The release profiles of enzymes from both forms of the carrier were different and depended on their structural properties. However, a significant impact of BC modification on protein release behavior from the carrier was observed only for PslGh. Both enzymes, when immobilized on pristine and argon plasma-modified BC, retained their ability to effectively reduce biofilm levels, similarly to their soluble form. Ar plasma-modified BC with immobilized specific hydrolases can be used as an effective tool for inhibiting P. aeruginosa biofilm development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anti-infective Properties of Natural Products)
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