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Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents
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Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2024) | Viewed by 8495

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eduardo Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Interests: bioactive compounds; biological activity; functional foods; antimicrobials; cosmeceuticals; nutraceuticals; cellular models; proteomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sara Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Arquiteto Lobão Vital 172, 4200-374 Porto, Portugal
Interests: byproducts valorization; bioactive ingredients; antimicrobials; nutraceuticals; microbiota modulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance has been a key research topic due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. This has driven the search for alternatives capable of mitigating and circumventing these resistances and their impact upon human health. As with many other modern problems, researchers have turned to nature to look for answers to this problematic. Thus, antimicrobials based on natural products or even extracted from various industrial byproducts have emerged as viable alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Considering the evolution of this topic in recent years, we sought to offer a platform where advances in this field can be demonstrated, with special focus on the antimicrobial activity of novel antibiotics and nature- and byproduct-based antimicrobial agents. We expect submitted manuscripts to focus on compounds’ antimicrobial activity using a mechanistic approach and various aspects of inhibiting microbial growth and development, such as biofilms and quorum sensing. Finally, we expect that this Special Issue will be a collation of knowledge on this topic in the last decade.

Dr. Eduardo M. Costa
Dr. Sara Silva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antimicrobial
  • antibiotic
  • multidrug resistant microorganisms
  • natural products
  • byproducts
  • biofilms

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3296 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Evaluation of Phytobiotic Mixture Antibacterial Potential against Enterococcus spp. Strains Isolated from Broiler Chicken
by Karolina Wódz, Karolina A. Chodkowska, Hubert Iwiński, Henryk Różański and Jakub Wojciechowski
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(9), 4797; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25094797 - 27 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1487
Abstract
Enterococcus spp. are normal intestinal tract microflorae found in poultry. However, the last decades have shown that several species, e.g., Enterococcus cecorum, have become emerging pathogens in broilers and may cause numerous losses in flocks. In this study, two combinations (H1 and [...] Read more.
Enterococcus spp. are normal intestinal tract microflorae found in poultry. However, the last decades have shown that several species, e.g., Enterococcus cecorum, have become emerging pathogens in broilers and may cause numerous losses in flocks. In this study, two combinations (H1 and H2) of menthol, 1,8-cineol, linalool, methyl salicylate, γ-terpinene, p-cymene, trans-anethole, terpinen-4-ol and thymol were used in an in vitro model, analyzing its effectiveness against the strains E. cecorum, E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. hirae and E. gallinarum isolated from broiler chickens from industrial farms. To identify the isolated strains classical microbiological methods and VITEK 2 GP cards were used. Moreover for E. cecorum a PCR test was used.. Antibiotic sensitivity (MIC) tests were performed for all the strains. For the composition H1, the effective dilution for E. cecorum and E. hirae strains was 1:512, and for E. faecalis, E. faecium and E. gallinarum, 1:1024. The second mixture (H2) showed very similar results with an effectiveness at 1:512 for E. cecorum and E. hirae and 1:1024 for E. faecalis, E. faecium and E. gallinarum. The presented results suggest that the proposed composition is effective against selected strains of Enterococcus in an in vitro model, and its effect is comparable to classical antibiotics used to treat this pathogen in poultry. This may suggest that this product may also be effective in vivo and provide effective support in the management of enterococcosis in broiler chickens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents)
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17 pages, 3315 KiB  
Article
[Cu(NN1)2]ClO4, a Copper (I) Complex as an Antimicrobial Agent for the Treatment of Piscirickettsiosis in Atlantic Salmon
by Mick Parra, Maialen Aldabaldetrecu, Pablo Arce, Sarita Soto-Aguilera, Rodrigo Vargas, Juan Guerrero, Mario Tello and Brenda Modak
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(7), 3700; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25073700 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1005
Abstract
Piscirickettsia salmonis is the pathogen that most affects the salmon industry in Chile. Large quantities of antibiotics have been used to control it. In search of alternatives, we have developed [Cu(NN1)2]ClO4 where NN1 = 6-((quinolin-2-ylmethylene)amino)-2H-chromen-2-one. The antibacterial [...] Read more.
Piscirickettsia salmonis is the pathogen that most affects the salmon industry in Chile. Large quantities of antibiotics have been used to control it. In search of alternatives, we have developed [Cu(NN1)2]ClO4 where NN1 = 6-((quinolin-2-ylmethylene)amino)-2H-chromen-2-one. The antibacterial capacity of [Cu(NN1)2]ClO4 was determined. Subsequently, the effect of the administration of [Cu(NN1)2]ClO4 on the growth of S. salar, modulation of the immune system and the intestinal microbiota was studied. Finally, the ability to protect against a challenge with P. salmonis was evaluated. The results obtained showed that the compound has an MIC between 15 and 33.9 μg/mL in four isolates. On the other hand, the compound did not affect the growth of the fish; however, an increase in the transcript levels of IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-1β, CD4, lysozyme and perforin was observed in fish treated with 40 μg/g of fish. Furthermore, modulation of the intestinal microbiota was observed, increasing the genera of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bacillus as well as potential pathogens such as Vibrio and Piscirickettsia. Finally, the treatment increased survival in fish challenged with P. salmonis by more than 60%. These results demonstrate that the compound is capable of protecting fish against P. salmonis, probably by modulating the immune system and the composition of the intestinal microbiota. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents)
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20 pages, 4422 KiB  
Article
Rapid Antibacterial Activity Assessment of Chimeric Lysins
by Jin-Mi Park, Jun-Hyun Kim, Gun Kim, Hun-Ju Sim, Sun-Min Ahn, Kang-Seuk Choi and Hyuk-Joon Kwon
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(4), 2430; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25042430 - 19 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1349
Abstract
Various chimeric lysins have been developed as efficacious antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria, but direct comparisons of their antibacterial activities have been difficult due to the preparation of multiple recombinant chimeric lysins. Previously, we reported an Escherichia coli cell-free expression method to better screen [...] Read more.
Various chimeric lysins have been developed as efficacious antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria, but direct comparisons of their antibacterial activities have been difficult due to the preparation of multiple recombinant chimeric lysins. Previously, we reported an Escherichia coli cell-free expression method to better screen chimeric lysins against Staphylococcus aureus, but we still needed to increase the amounts of expressed proteins enough to be able to detect them non-isotopically for quantity comparisons. In this study, we improved the previous cell-free expression system by adding a previously reported artificial T7 terminator and reversing the different nucleotides between the T7 promoter and start codon to those of the T7 phage. The new method increased the expressed amount of chimeric lysins enough for us to detect them using Western blotting. Therefore, the qualitative comparison of activity between different chimeric lysins has become possible via the adjustment of the number of variables between samples without protein purification. We applied this method to select more active chimeric lysins derived from our previously reported chimeric lysin (ALS2). Finally, we compared the antibacterial activities of our selected chimeric lysins with reported chimeric lysins (ClyC and ClyO) and lysostaphin and determined the rank orders of antibacterial activities on different Staphylococcus aureus strains in our experimental conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents)
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Review

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17 pages, 1536 KiB  
Review
Enhancing Antimicrobial Peptide Activity through Modifications of Charge, Hydrophobicity, and Structure
by Przemysław Gagat, Michał Ostrówka, Anna Duda-Madej and Paweł Mackiewicz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(19), 10821; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms251910821 - 9 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1539
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics due to their ability to disturb bacterial membranes and/or their intracellular processes, offering a potential solution to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. AMP effectiveness is governed by factors such as [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics due to their ability to disturb bacterial membranes and/or their intracellular processes, offering a potential solution to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. AMP effectiveness is governed by factors such as net charge, hydrophobicity, and the ability to form amphipathic secondary structures. When properly balanced, these characteristics enable AMPs to selectively target bacterial membranes while sparing eukaryotic cells. This review focuses on the roles of positive charge, hydrophobicity, and structure in influencing AMP activity and toxicity, and explores strategies to optimize them for enhanced therapeutic potential. We highlight the delicate balance between these properties and how various modifications, including amino acid substitutions, peptide tagging, or lipid conjugation, can either enhance or impair AMP performance. Notably, an increase in these parameters does not always yield the best results; sometimes, a slight reduction in charge, hydrophobicity, or structural stability improves the overall AMP therapeutic potential. Understanding these complex interactions is key to developing AMPs with greater antimicrobial activity and reduced toxicity, making them viable candidates in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents)
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22 pages, 3141 KiB  
Review
Plant-Origin Components: New Players to Combat Antibiotic Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae
by Victor M. Luna-Pineda, Griselda Rodríguez-Martínez, Marcela Salazar-García and Mariana Romo-Castillo
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(4), 2134; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25042134 - 10 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2319
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn) is an opportunistic pathogen that causes intrahospital complications such as pneumonia, liver abscesses, soft tissue infections, urinary infections, bacteraemia, and, in some cases, death. Since this bacterium has a higher frequency than other Gram-negative pathogens, it has become an important [...] Read more.
Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn) is an opportunistic pathogen that causes intrahospital complications such as pneumonia, liver abscesses, soft tissue infections, urinary infections, bacteraemia, and, in some cases, death. Since this bacterium has a higher frequency than other Gram-negative pathogens, it has become an important pathogen to the health sector. The adaptative genome of Kpn likely facilitates increased survival of the pathogen in diverse situations. Therefore, several studies have been focused on developing new molecules, synergistic formulations, and biomaterials that make it possible to combat and control infections with and dispersion of this pathogen. Note that the uncontrolled antibiotic administration that occurred during the pandemic led to the emergence of new multidrug-resistant strains, and scientists were challenged to overcome them. This review aims to compile the latest information on Kpn that generates intrahospital infections, specifically their pathogenicity-associated factors. Furthermore, it explains the natural-product-based treatments (extracts and essential oils) developed for Kpn infection and dispersion control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Antimicrobial Agents)
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