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Bacterial resistance mechanisms against host defense peptides

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Abstract

Host defense peptides and proteins are important components of the innate host defense against pathogenic microorganisms. They target negatively charged bacterial surfaces and disrupt microbial cytoplasmic membranes, which ultimately leads to bacterial destruction. Throughout evolution, pathogens devised several mechanisms to protect themselves from deleterious damage of host defense peptides. These strategies include (a) inactivation and cleavage of host defense peptides by production of host defense binding proteins and proteases, (b) repulsion of the peptides by alteration of pathogen’s surface charge employing modifications by amino acids or amino sugars of anionic molecules (e.g., teichoic acids, lipid A and phospholipids), (c) alteration of bacterial membrane fluidity, and (d) expulsion of the peptides using multi drug pumps. Together with bacterial regulatory network(s) that regulate expression and activity of these mechanisms, they represent attractive targets for development of novel antibacterials.

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Abbreviations

CAMPs:

Cationic antimicrobial peptides

gIIA PLA2:

group IIA phospholipase A2

HBD3:

Human β-defensin 3

HNPs:

Human neutrophil peptides

LPS:

Lipopolysaccharide

LTA:

Lipoteichoic acid

MDR:

Multidrug resistance

PAMPs:

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns

PGA:

Anionic poly-γ -glutamic acid

TA:

Teichoic acids

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerol

PIA:

Polysaccharide intercellular adhesin

SIC:

Streptococcal inhibitor of complement

WTA:

Wall teichoic acid

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Acknowledgments

Our work is supported in part by Grants from Marie Curie International Grant 249285 to TK, the German Research Foundation (SFB766, TRR34) and the German Ministry of Education and Research (SkinStaph, MENAGE) to AP.

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Chemistry Slovenia, Hajdrihova 19, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tomaz Koprivnjak

  2. Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology Section, University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Andreas Peschel

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  1. Tomaz Koprivnjak
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Correspondence to Tomaz Koprivnjak.

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Koprivnjak, T., Peschel, A. Bacterial resistance mechanisms against host defense peptides. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 68, 2243–2254 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-011-0716-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-011-0716-4

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