Authors
Derek Fleming, Laura Chahin, Kendra Rumbaugh
Publication date
2017/2
Journal
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
Volume
61
Issue
2
Pages
10.1128/aac. 01998-16
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Description
The persistent nature of chronic wounds leaves them highly susceptible to invasion by a variety of pathogens that have the ability to construct an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). This EPS makes the bacterial population, or biofilm, up to 1,000-fold more antibiotic tolerant than planktonic cells and makes wound healing extremely difficult. Thus, compounds which have the ability to degrade biofilms, but not host tissue components, are highly sought after for clinical applications. In this study, we examined the efficacy of two glycoside hydrolases, α-amylase and cellulase, which break down complex polysaccharides, to effectively disrupt Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa monoculture and coculture biofilms. We hypothesized that glycoside hydrolase therapy would significantly reduce EPS biomass and convert bacteria to their planktonic state, leaving them more susceptible to conventional …
Total citations
20172018201920202021202220232024511303142273916
Scholar articles
D Fleming, L Chahin, K Rumbaugh - Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2017