Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery

Title:Bacterial Quorum Sensing Inhibitors: Attractive Alternatives for Control of Infectious Pathogens Showing Multiple Drug Resistance

Volume: 8Issue: 1

Author(s):Ashima K. Bhardwaj, Kittappa Vinothkumar and Neha Rajpara

Affiliation:

Keywords:Biofilms, multidrug resistance, patents, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, quorum sensing, quorum sensing inhibitors,Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Autoinducer type 1, QS systems

Abstract: Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterial communication process that depends on the bacterial population density. Itinvolves small diffusible signaling molecules which activate the expression of myriad genes that control diverse array offunctions like bioluminescence, virulence, biofilm formation, sporulation, to name a few. Since QS is responsible for virulencein the clinically relevant bacteria, inhibition of QS appears to be a promising strategy to control these pathogenicbacteria. With indiscriminate use of antibiotics, there has been an alarming increase in the number of antibiotic resistantpathogens. Antibiotics are no longer the magic bullets they were once thought to be and therefore there is a need fordevelopment of new antibiotics and/or other novel strategies to combat the infections caused by multidrug resistant organisms.Quorum sensing inhibition or quorum quenching has been pursued as one of such novel strategies. While antibioticskill or slow down the growth of bacteria, quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) or quorum quenchers (QQs) attenuate bacterialvirulence. A large body of work on QS has been carried out in deadly pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio fischeri, V. harveyi, Escherichia coli and V. cholerae etc to unravel the mechanisms of QSas well as identify and study QSIs. This review describes various aspects of QS, QSI, different model systems to studythese phenomena and recent patents on various QSIs. It suggests QSIs as attractive alternatives for controlling human,animal and plant pathogens and their utility in agriculture and other industries.

Export Options

About this article

Cite this article as:

K. Bhardwaj Ashima, Vinothkumar Kittappa and Rajpara Neha, Bacterial Quorum Sensing Inhibitors: Attractive Alternatives for Control of Infectious Pathogens Showing Multiple Drug Resistance, Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery 2013; 8 (1) .https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1574891X11308010012