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Reporter Phage-Based Detection of Bacterial Pathogens: Design Guidelines and Recent Developments
(2020)VirusesFast and reliable detection of bacterial pathogens in clinical samples, contaminated food products, and water supplies can drastically improve clinical outcomes and reduce the socio-economic impact of disease. As natural predators of bacteria, bacteriophages (phages) have evolved to bind their hosts with unparalleled specificity and to rapidly deliver and replicate their viral genome. Not surprisingly, phages and phage-encoded proteins ...Review Article -
Engineering therapeutic phages for enhanced antibacterial efficacy
(2022)Current Opinion in VirologyThe alarming rise in antimicrobial resistance coupled with a lack of innovation in antibiotics has renewed interest in the development of alternative therapies to combat bacterial infections. Despite phage therapy demonstrating success in various individual cases, a comprehensive and unequivocal demonstration of the therapeutic potential of phages remains to be shown. The co-evolution of phages and their bacterial hosts resulted in several ...Review Article -
Bacteriophage endolysins — extending their application to tissues and the bloodstream
(2021)Current Opinion in BiotechnologyThe rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the lack of novel antibacterial agents pose a serious threat for patients and healthcare systems. Bacteriophage-encoded peptidoglycan hydrolases (endolysins) represent a promising new class of antimicrobials. Over the past two decades, research on these enzymes has evolved from basic in vitro characterization to sophisticated protein engineering approaches, including advanced ...Review Article -
Reprogramming bacteriophage host range: design principles and strategies for engineering receptor binding proteins
(2021)Current Opinion in BiotechnologyBacteriophages (phages) use specialized tail machinery to deliver proteins and genetic material into a bacterial cell during infection. Attached at the distal ends of their tails are receptor binding proteins (RBPs) that recognize specific molecules exposed on host bacteria surfaces. Since the therapeutic capacity of naturally occurring phages is often limited by narrow host ranges, there is significant interest in expanding their host ...Review Article -
Enhancing phage therapy through synthetic biology and genome engineering
(2021)Current Opinion in BiotechnologyThe antimicrobial and therapeutic efficacy of bacteriophages is currently limited, mostly due to rapid emergence of phage-resistance and the inability of most phage isolates to bind and infect a broad range of clinical strains. Here, we discuss how phage therapy can be improved through recent advances in genetic engineering. First, we outline how receptor-binding proteins and their relevant structural domains are engineered to redirect ...Review Article -
Deimmunization of protein therapeutics – Recent advances in experimental and computational epitope prediction and deletion
(2021)Computational and Structural Biotechnology JournalBiotherapeutics, and antimicrobial proteins in particular, are of increasing interest for human medicine. An important challenge in the development of such therapeutics is their potential immunogenicity, which can induce production of anti-drug-antibodies, resulting in altered pharmacokinetics, reduced efficacy, and potentially severe anaphylactic or hypersensitivity reactions. For this reason, the development and application of effective ...Review Article -
Molecular Basis of Bacterial Host Interactions by Gram-Positive Targeting Bacteriophages
(2018)VirusesReview Article -
Phages of Listeria offer novel tools for diagnostics and biocontrol
(2014)Frontiers in MicrobiologyHistorically, bacteriophages infecting their hosts have perhaps been best known and even notorious for being a nuisance in dairy-fermentation processes. However, with the rapid progress in molecular microbiology and microbial ecology, a new dawn has risen for phages. This review will provide an overview on possible uses and applications of Listeria phages, including phage-typing, reporter phage for bacterial diagnostics, and use of phage ...Review Article -
The Opportunistic Pathogen Listeria monocytogenes: Pathogenicity and Interaction with the Mucosal Immune System
(2010)International Journal of InflammationListeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen causing listeriosis, an often fatal infection leading to meningitis, sepsis, or infection of the fetus and abortion in susceptible individuals. It was recently found that the bacterium can also cause acute, self-limiting febrile gastroenteritis in healthy individuals. In the intestinal tract, L. monocytogenes penetrates the mucosa directly via enterocytes, or indirectly via ...Review Article -