AUTHOR=Martínez Osmel Fleitas , Duque Harry Morales , Franco Octávio Luiz 

TITLE=Peptidomimetics as Potential Anti-Virulence Drugs Against Resistant Bacterial Pathogens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.831037

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.831037

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=The uncontrollable spread of superbugs calls for new approaches in dealing with micro-bial-antibiotic resistance. Accordingly, the anti-virulence approach has arisen as an at-tractive unconventional strategy to face multidrug-resistant pathogens. As an emergent strategy, there is an imperative demand for discovery, design and development of anti-virulence drugs. In this regard, peptidomimetic compounds could be a valuable source of anti-virulence drugs, since these molecules circumvent several shortcomings of natural peptide-based drugs like proteolytic instability, immunogenicity, toxicity and low bioa-vailability. Some emerging evidence points to the feasibility of peptidomimetics to im-pair pathogen virulence. Consequently, in this review, we shed some light on the poten-tial of peptidomimetics as anti-virulence drugs to overcome antibiotic resistance. Specif-ically, we address the anti-virulence activity of peptidomimetics against pathogens’ se-cretion systems, biofilms and quorum-sensing systems.