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Schmitt DS, Siegel SD, Selle K. Applications of designer phage encoding recombinant gene payloads. Trends Biotechnol 2024; 42:326-338. [PMID: 37833198 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Advances in genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and DNA sequencing have transformed the re-emergent therapeutic bacteriophage field. The increasing rate of multidrug resistant (MDR) infections and the speed at which new bacteriophages can be isolated, sequenced, characterized, and engineered has reinvigorated phage therapy and unlocked new applications of phages for modulating bacteria. The methods used to genetically engineer bacteriophages are undergoing significant development, but identification of heterologous gene payloads with desirable activity and determination of their impact on bacteria or human cells in translationally relevant applications remain underexplored areas. Here, we discuss and categorize recombinant gene payloads for their potential outcome on phage-bacteria interactions when genetically engineered into phage genomes for expression in their bacterial hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel S Schmitt
- Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Sara D Siegel
- Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Kurt Selle
- Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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Zhao M, Tan X, Liu ZQ, Dou L, Liu D, Pan YJ, Ma YF, Yu JL. Engineered phage with cell-penetrating peptides for intracellular bacterial infections. mSystems 2023; 8:e0064623. [PMID: 37594262 PMCID: PMC10654057 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00646-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Salmonella infection is a significant threat to global public health, and the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance exacerbates the situation. Therefore, finding new and effective ways to combat this pathogen is essential. Phages are natural predators of bacteria and can be used as an alternative to antibiotics to kill specific bacteria, including drug-resistant strains. One significant limitation of using phages as antimicrobial agents is their low cellular uptake, which limits their effectiveness against intracellular bacterial infections. Therefore, finding ways to enhance phage uptake is crucial. Our study provides a straightforward strategy for displaying cell-penetrating peptides on non-model phages, offering a promising novel and effective therapeutic approach for treating intracellular and drug-resistant bacteria. This approach has the potential to address the global challenge of antibiotic resistance and improve public health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Zhao
- Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Infection and Immunity, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China
| | - Xin Tan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zi-qiang Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lei Dou
- Department of Neonatology, Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Dong Liu
- Department of Neonatology, Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yong-jun Pan
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ying-fei Ma
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jia-lin Yu
- Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Infection and Immunity, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China
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Hussain W, Yang X, Ullah M, Wang H, Aziz A, Xu F, Asif M, Ullah MW, Wang S. Genetic engineering of bacteriophages: Key concepts, strategies, and applications. Biotechnol Adv 2023; 64:108116. [PMID: 36773707 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
Bacteriophages are the most abundant biological entity in the world and hold a tremendous amount of unexplored genetic information. Since their discovery, phages have drawn a great deal of attention from researchers despite their small size. The development of advanced strategies to modify their genomes and produce engineered phages with desired traits has opened new avenues for their applications. This review presents advanced strategies for developing engineered phages and their potential antibacterial applications in phage therapy, disruption of biofilm, delivery of antimicrobials, use of endolysin as an antibacterial agent, and altering the phage host range. Similarly, engineered phages find applications in eukaryotes as a shuttle for delivering genes and drugs to the targeted cells, and are used in the development of vaccines and facilitating tissue engineering. The use of phage display-based specific peptides for vaccine development, diagnostic tools, and targeted drug delivery is also discussed in this review. The engineered phage-mediated industrial food processing and biocontrol, advanced wastewater treatment, phage-based nano-medicines, and their use as a bio-recognition element for the detection of bacterial pathogens are also part of this review. The genetic engineering approaches hold great potential to accelerate translational phages and research. Overall, this review provides a deep understanding of the ingenious knowledge of phage engineering to move them beyond their innate ability for potential applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wajid Hussain
- Advanced Biomaterials & Tissues Engineering Center, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Xiaohan Yang
- Advanced Biomaterials & Tissues Engineering Center, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Mati Ullah
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Huan Wang
- Advanced Biomaterials & Tissues Engineering Center, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Ayesha Aziz
- Advanced Biomaterials & Tissues Engineering Center, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Fang Xu
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology Hospital, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Muhammad Asif
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
| | - Muhammad Wajid Ullah
- Biofuels Institute, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
| | - Shenqi Wang
- Advanced Biomaterials & Tissues Engineering Center, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
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Jung D, Gaudreau-Lapierre A, Alnahhas E, Asraoui S. Bacteriophage-Liposomes Complex, a Bi-therapy System to Target Streptococcus pneumonia and Biofilm: A Research Protocol. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN NATURAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (URNCST) JOURNAL 2021; 5:1-10. [DOI: 10.26685/urncst.294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive bacterium, which is the leading cause of death for young children, elderly population, and immunocompromised patients. Its ability to mutate and become resistant to some of the strongest antibiotics makes them difficult to treat and increases the risk of disease spread. Although the development of stronger antibiotics to treat such microbes may be an option, they potentially pose a dangerous threat to the body. As such, a viable treatment option to fight against antimicrobial resistance has yet been found.
Methods: The study focuses on utilizing a bi-therapy system to target S. pneumoniae in biofilm, which is the site of emerging antibiotic resistant mutants, by creating levofloxacin-liposomes carrying phages and testing them both in vitro and in vivo.
Anticipated results: Using bacteriophage therapy and applying bacteriophage-antibiotic synergy, it is hoped to augment the potency of the treatment while lowering its side-effects. The Cp-1 bacteriophage-liposomes complexes are expected to be specific to the S. pneumoniae to carry antibiotics to sites of infection.
Discussion: The therapy could ensure targeted bacterial lysis and site-directed delivery of low-dose drugs to decrease the toxicity effect of the antibiotics. Once the efficacy is established and is proven to be significant, its potency can be tested in BALB/cByJ mice models before bringing this therapy to animal trials then human clinical trials.
Conclusion: Bacteriophages are very attractive therapeutic agents that effectively target pathogenic bacteria, safe for the human body, and highly modifiable to combat newly emerging bacterial threats. In addition to its many benefits, the use of bacteriophages could significantly reduce healthcare costs. The potential use of bacteriophages-liposomes complexes could be translated to treat respiratory infections in humans after confirming its efficacy in vitro and in vivo studies.
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Gibb B, Hyman P, Schneider CL. The Many Applications of Engineered Bacteriophages-An Overview. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14070634. [PMID: 34208847 PMCID: PMC8308837 DOI: 10.3390/ph14070634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Since their independent discovery by Frederick Twort in 1915 and Felix d’Herelle in 1917, bacteriophages have captured the attention of scientists for more than a century. They are the most abundant organisms on the planet, often outnumbering their bacterial hosts by tenfold in a given environment, and they constitute a vast reservoir of unexplored genetic information. The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant pathogens has renewed interest in the use of naturally obtained phages to combat bacterial infections, aka phage therapy. The development of tools to modify phages, genetically or chemically, combined with their structural flexibility, cargo capacity, ease of propagation, and overall safety in humans has opened the door to a myriad of applications. This review article will introduce readers to many of the varied and ingenious ways in which researchers are modifying phages to move them well beyond their innate ability to target and kill bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Gibb
- Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Theobald Science Center, Room 423, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY 11568-8000, USA
- Correspondence: (B.G.); (C.L.S.)
| | - Paul Hyman
- Department of Biology and Toxicology, Ashland University, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805, USA;
| | - Christine L. Schneider
- Department of Life Sciences, Carroll University, 100 North East Ave., Waukesha, WI 53186, USA
- Correspondence: (B.G.); (C.L.S.)
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