Antibiotic and antiviral pressure has promoted the appearance of multi-resistant pathogens, generating an urgent need for novel antimicrobials. The structural and functional characterization of pneumococcal PG hydrolases has allowed us to design new enzymes that efficiently and selectively kill Streptococcus pneumoniae as well as other Gram-positive and Gram–negative pathogens. In addition, screening of chemical libraries is being used to find new antimicrobials interfering with microbial infections to overcome current treatment failure.
Project partners: Drs. P. García (CIB-CSIC), Mª J. Camarasa (IQM-CSIC) and J. Sancho (BIFI-UNIZAR).
Vázquez R, Domenech M, Iglesias-Bexiga M, Menéndez M, García P. 2017. Csl2, a novel chimeric bacteriophage lysin to fight infections caused by Streptococcus suis, an emerging zoonotic pathogen. Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 28;7(1):16506. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017 -16736-0. PMID: 29184097.
Blázquez B, Fresco-Taboada A, Iglesias-Bexiga M, Menéndez M, García P. 2016. PL3 amidase, a tailor-made lysin constructed by domain shuffling with potent killing activity against pneumococci and related species. Front Microbiol. 7:1156. PMID:27516758
Díez-Martínez R, de Paz HD, García-Fernández E, Bustamante N, Euler CW, Fischetti VA, Menéndez M, García P. 2015. A novel chimeric phage lysin with high in vitro and in vivo bactericidal activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae. J Antimicrob Agents, 70: 1763-1773. PMID: 25733585
Moscoso M, Esteban-Torres M, Menéndez M, García E. 2014. In vitro bactericidal and bacteriolytic activity of ceragenin CSA-13 against planktonic cultures and biofilms of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other pathogenic streptococci. PLoS One. 9(7): e101037. PMID: 25006964
Díez-Martínez, R., De Paz, H., Bustamante, N., García. E., Menéndez M., García P. 2013 Improving the lethal effect of Cpl-7, a pneumococcal phage lysozyme with broad bactericidal activity, by inverting the net charge of its cell wall-binding module. Antimicrob. Agents. Chemother. 57, 5355-5365. PMID: 23959317