engleski

Relevance of Quorum Sensing and Bacterial Biofilm Formation in Health and Disease

Quorum sensing (QS) is an integral component of global gene regulatory networks among bacteria and is responsible for facilitating bacterial adaptation to environmental stress. In order to survive, bacteria communicate through QS signal molecules to coordinate changes in bacterial behavious and gene expression. One of the most efficient strategies bacteria use to survive in hostile environments is their attachment to various abiotic and biotic surfaces, followed by the synthesis of matrix material. Such structure is known as the biofilm. Many human commensal and symbiotic bacteria are found in the form of biofilms that play an important role in health maintenance. However, most (if not all) pathogenic bacteria causing a variety of different disases also form biofilms, which show the innate tolerance to antibiotics and antiseptics as well as to the host immune system. They produce various virulence factors, i.e. exoproteases, elastases, exotoxins, phospholipases, siderophores, adhesins and exopolysaccharides, to ensure colonization and defence against the host. As such, they represent a major problem and challenge of current antimicrobial chemotherapy. Biofilm-related infections could be more or less severe chronic, persistent conditions. Different community-acquired infections like chronic otitis media, muscoskeletal, biliary tract, infectuous kidney stones, osteomielitis, prostatitis, chronic wounds, tonsilitis, infections of contact lenses and peridontal infections are less severe, while the nosocomial device-related infections, pneumonia and cystic fibrosis are often more severe and could even be fatal. Pathogens causing the most prevalent biofilm-related diseases are P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli and thus they are usually in the focus of biofilm research. Fungi, especially the yeasts from the Candida genus, are also known to produce clinically relevant biofilm-related diseases. Quorum sensing and biofilm research is a developing multidisciplinary scientific area. It should be integrated within the medical community in order to improve knowledge and diagnosis of various biofilm-related diseases, develop more efficient medicines and treatment strategies, as well as to make advances in prevention of such infections.

Quorum sensing; biofilm

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