›› 2013, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (3): 368-.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8115.2013.03.023

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Prospects of bacteriophage endolysins as antibacterial agents

WANG Zheng1, SHEN Wen-bin1, ZHANG Hao-tian1, YAO Rao1, CUI Ze-lin2, HE Ping2   

  1. 1.Grade 2009 of the 8-year Medical Education Program, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China； 2.Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
  • Online:2013-03-28 Published:2013-03-29

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Abstract:

At present, there is an urgent need for better novel antibacterial agents due to the dramatic rise in antibiotic resistance among bacteria. Bacteriophage endolysins, encoded by dsDNA phages, synthesized by host bacteria, will result in bacteria death by inducing the lysis of bacteria cell wall specifically and effectively. Studies in vitro and in vivo have demonstrated that endolysins are possessed of strong bactericidal effect without any direct adverse effects, and have broad prospects of application in prophylaxis and treatment of bacterial infections. The prospects of bacteriophage endolysins as antibacterial agents are introduced in this article.

Key words: bacteriophage endolysins, antibacterial agents, bacterial resistance