AUTHOR=Fleitas Martínez Osmel , Rigueiras Pietra Orlandi , Pires Állan da Silva , Porto William Farias , Silva Osmar Nascimento , de la Fuente-Nunez Cesar , Franco Octavio Luiz TITLE=Interference With Quorum-Sensing Signal Biosynthesis as a Promising Therapeutic Strategy Against Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2018.00444 DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2018.00444 ISSN=2235-2988 ABSTRACT=

Faced with the global health threat of increasing resistance to antibiotics, researchers are exploring interventions that target bacterial virulence factors. Quorum sensing is a particularly attractive target because several bacterial virulence factors are controlled by this mechanism. Furthermore, attacking the quorum-sensing signaling network is less likely to select for resistant strains than using conventional antibiotics. Strategies that focus on the inhibition of quorum-sensing signal production are especially attractive because the enzymes involved are expressed in bacterial cells but are not present in their mammalian counterparts. We review here various approaches that are being taken to interfere with quorum-sensing signal production via the inhibition of autoinducer-2 synthesis, PQS synthesis, peptide autoinducer synthesis, and N-acyl-homoserine lactone synthesis. We expect these approaches will lead to the discovery of new quorum-sensing inhibitors that can help to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance.