Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
The current emergence of multi-, extensively-, extremely-, and total-drug resistant strains of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> poses a major health, social, and economic threat, and stresses the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. The notion of phage therapy against bacteria ha...
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doaj-3a582b8c5516409b9af9c1577bc182a72021-01-14T00:03:19ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672021-01-012273573510.3390/ijms22020735Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant TuberculosisAnna Allué-Guardia0Rajagopalan Saranathan1John Chan2Jordi B. Torrelles3Population Health Program, Tuberculosis Group, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78227, USADepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USADepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USAPopulation Health Program, Tuberculosis Group, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78227, USAThe current emergence of multi-, extensively-, extremely-, and total-drug resistant strains of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> poses a major health, social, and economic threat, and stresses the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. The notion of phage therapy against bacteria has been around for more than a century and, although its implementation was abandoned after the introduction of drugs, it is now making a comeback and gaining renewed interest in Western medicine as an alternative to treat drug-resistant pathogens. Mycobacteriophages are genetically diverse viruses that specifically infect mycobacterial hosts, including members of the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> complex. This review describes general features of mycobacteriophages and their mechanisms of killing <i>M. tuberculosis</i>, as well as their advantages and limitations as therapeutic and prophylactic agents against drug-resistant <i>M. tuberculosis</i> strains. This review also discusses the role of human lung micro-environments in shaping the availability of mycobacteriophage receptors on the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> cell envelope surface, the risk of potential development of bacterial resistance to mycobacteriophages, and the interactions with the mammalian host immune system. Finally, it summarizes the knowledge gaps and defines key questions to be addressed regarding the clinical application of phage therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/735<i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>drug-resistancemycobacteriophagesphage therapylung mucosa |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Anna Allué-Guardia Rajagopalan Saranathan John Chan Jordi B. Torrelles |
spellingShingle |
Anna Allué-Guardia Rajagopalan Saranathan John Chan Jordi B. Torrelles Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis International Journal of Molecular Sciences <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> drug-resistance mycobacteriophages phage therapy lung mucosa |
author_facet |
Anna Allué-Guardia Rajagopalan Saranathan John Chan Jordi B. Torrelles |
author_sort |
Anna Allué-Guardia |
title |
Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis |
title_short |
Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis |
title_full |
Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis |
title_fullStr |
Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mycobacteriophages as Potential Therapeutic Agents against Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis |
title_sort |
mycobacteriophages as potential therapeutic agents against drug-resistant tuberculosis |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
issn |
1661-6596 1422-0067 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
The current emergence of multi-, extensively-, extremely-, and total-drug resistant strains of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> poses a major health, social, and economic threat, and stresses the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. The notion of phage therapy against bacteria has been around for more than a century and, although its implementation was abandoned after the introduction of drugs, it is now making a comeback and gaining renewed interest in Western medicine as an alternative to treat drug-resistant pathogens. Mycobacteriophages are genetically diverse viruses that specifically infect mycobacterial hosts, including members of the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> complex. This review describes general features of mycobacteriophages and their mechanisms of killing <i>M. tuberculosis</i>, as well as their advantages and limitations as therapeutic and prophylactic agents against drug-resistant <i>M. tuberculosis</i> strains. This review also discusses the role of human lung micro-environments in shaping the availability of mycobacteriophage receptors on the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> cell envelope surface, the risk of potential development of bacterial resistance to mycobacteriophages, and the interactions with the mammalian host immune system. Finally, it summarizes the knowledge gaps and defines key questions to be addressed regarding the clinical application of phage therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis. |
topic |
<i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> drug-resistance mycobacteriophages phage therapy lung mucosa |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/735 |
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