Article
Microbiology
Fernanda Jimenez Otero, Dianne K. Newman, Leonard M. Tender
Summary: Biofilms provide a protective environment but also present challenges to the cells living within them. Pseudomonas aeruginosa overcomes oxygen limitation by secreting redox active phenazines, which act as electron shuttles. Blocking the re-oxidation of one of these electron shuttles, pyocyanin, decreases cell survival within biofilms and enhances the effect of gentamicin in killing cells. The study highlights the importance of redox cycling of electron shuttles in P. aeruginosa biofilms.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
David de la Rosa-Carrillo, Guillermo Suarez-Cuartin, Oriol Sibila, Rafael Golpe, Rosa-Maria Giron, Miguel-angel Martinez-Garcia
Summary: The use of inhaled antibiotics has expanded beyond cystic fibrosis patients to include non-CF bronchiectasis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Inhaled antibiotics provide high concentrations at the site of infection, enhancing their effectiveness and allowing for long-term administration. New formulations of inhaled dry powder antibiotics offer advantages such as faster preparation and administration, as well as eliminating the need for cleaning nebulization equipment.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel Song, Ethan Iverson, Logan Kaler, Allison Boboltz, Margaret A. Scull, Gregg A. Duncan
Summary: This study investigates the roles of mucins MUC5B and MUC5AC in airway clearance and demonstrates their individual contributions to mucociliary transport and coordination.
Article
Microbiology
Kimberly K. Kajihara, Homer Pantua, Hilda Hernandez-Barry, Meredith Hazen, Kiran Deshmukh, Nancy Chiang, Rachana Ohri, Erick R. Castellanos, Lynn Martin, Marissa L. Matsumoto, Jian Payandeh, Kelly M. Storek, Kellen Schneider, Peter A. Smith, Michael F. T. Koehler, Siao Ping Tsai, Richard Vandlen, Kelly M. Loyet, Gerald Nakamura, Thomas Pillow, Dhaya Seshasayee, Sharookh B. Kapadia, Wouter L. W. Hazenbos
Summary: This study demonstrates that an anti-P. aeruginosa AAC can locally concentrate antibiotic and kill P. aeruginosa inside phagocytes, providing additional therapeutic options for antibiotics that are moderately active or have an unfavorable pharmacokinetics or toxicity profile. This approach may provide new therapeutic options for antibiotics that are dose limited.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Biljana Mojsoska, Melanie Ghoul, Gabriel G. Perron, Havard Jenssen, Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi
Summary: This study explores the impact of sub-inhibitory antibiotic concentrations on the production of virulence factors in environmental Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, showing that sub-inhibitory antibiotic concentrations can alter bacterial toxin production, with strain-specific effects. Additionally, biologically relevant measured toxin concentrations were found to decrease the viability of cultured epithelial cells. This suggests that antibiotic-induced virulence should be considered in routine pathogen testing.
Article
Immunology
Jonathan D. Cogen, Anna Faino, Frankline Onchiri, Lucas R. Hoffman, Matthew P. Kronman, David P. Nichols, Margaret Rosenfeld, Ronald L. Gibson
Summary: A retrospective cohort study found that there were no significant differences in respiratory and clinical outcomes between young patients with cystic fibrosis treated with one versus two intravenous antipseudomonal antibiotics for pulmonary exacerbations.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Jonathan D. Cogen, Frankline M. Onchiri, Nicole Mayer Hamblett, Ronald L. Gibson, Wayne J. Morgan, Margaret Rosenfeld
Summary: The study showed that prolonged use of oral antibiotics in children with cystic fibrosis increased the risk of acquiring Achromobacter xylosoxidans, while treatment with intravenous antibiotics was associated with an increased risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and MRSA.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Casey N. Kellogg, Bryce A. Pugh, Isaak M. Starr, Dhruvi J. Parmar, A'Zane D. Troxler, Amanda L. Wolfe
Summary: The development of small molecule antibiotics capable of overcoming resistance mechanisms in pathogenic bacteria, particularly Gram-negative pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is urgently needed due to the global rise in antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. It has been shown that nitrogenous compounds, including guanidines, amidines, primary amines, imidazolines, and imidazoles, promote antibiotic activity in Gram-negative bacteria, but there is limited research targeting these compounds specifically towards Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study found that compounds with bisbenzguanidine and bisbenzamidine functionality are potent against multidrug resistant and biofilm forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Victoria R. Kohout, Casia L. Wardzala, Jessica R. Kramer
Summary: This article introduces the important roles of mucin glycoproteins in diseases and nutrient transport, and presents the synthetic materials used for studying mucin chemistry, biology, and physics. Furthermore, it highlights the advances in the biomedical applications of mucin mimic materials, such as glycan binding, epithelial models of infection, therapeutic delivery, and vaccine formulation.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Thomas James O'Brien, Wendy Figueroa, Martin Welch
Summary: The presence of diverse polymicrobial communities in the airways of individuals with cystic fibrosis can hinder the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment. A study showed that growth in a polymicrobial environment protects the target microorganism from the effects of specific antimicrobial agents. This decreased efficacy is found to have both physiological and genetic components.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Aisling R. Caffrey, Haley J. Appaneal, J. Xin Liao, Emily C. Piehl, Vrishali Lopes, Laura A. Puzniak
Summary: This study identified substantial treatment heterogeneity among patients with P. aeruginosa pneumonia, with a majority of patients having unique patterns of antibiotic drug and duration.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Nicole A. Bustos, Katharina Ribbeck, Caroline E. Wagner
Summary: Mucus is a biological hydrogel that protects wet epithelial surfaces. Mucins, the main components of mucus, play a critical role in protecting against invading pathogens and modulating disease transmission. Understanding the interactions between pathogens and mucins is essential for comprehending disease transmission and early stages of infection.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oliver W. Meldrum, Sanjay H. Chotirmall
Summary: The respiratory tract harbors a stable and diverse microbial population within an extracellular mucus layer, which is essential for healthy pulmonary physiology. Polymerizing mucin plays a key role in influencing microbial behavior and understanding its function may provide insights into infection risk and disease progression. Research in this field may lead to new perspectives in developing mucolytic treatments for chronic pulmonary diseases.
Article
Microbiology
Michael Marner, Laura Kolberg, Julia Horst, Nils Boehringer, Johannes Huebner, I. Dewa M. Kresna, Yang Liu, Ute Mettal, Lei Wang, Melanie Meyer-Buehn, Sanja Mihajlovic, Matthias Kappler, Till F. Schaeberle, Ulrich von Both
Summary: Antimicrobial resistance poses an increasing threat to healthcare. To address the need for innovative treatment of respiratory infections, antibiotics with new modes of action need to be developed. This study generated the antibiogram of clinical isolates from cystic fibrosis patients and identified bicyclic heptapeptides that inhibit the outer membrane protein BamA, showing strong activity against multidrug-resistant strains.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Paulina Paprocka, Bonita Durnas, Angelika Mankowska, Grzegorz Krol, Tomasz Wollny, Robert Bucki
Summary: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common opportunistic pathogen in cancer patients, with high antibiotic resistance and adaptability. It causes infections by producing virulence factors and survives and spreads in hospital environments. Treating infections caused by this microorganism is challenging and requires preventive measures.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jacob Witten, Amy Ruschak, Timothy Poterba, Alexis Jaramillo, Andrew D. Miranker, Sheila S. Jaswal
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2015)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jacob Witten, Katharina Ribbeck
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Jacob Witten, Tahoura Samad, Katharina Ribbeck
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yoichiro Ito, Robert Clary, Jacob J. Witten, Yun Zeng
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Adrian Weisz, Jacob J. Witten, Yun Zeng, Eugene P. Mazzola, Yoichiro Ito
JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY A
(2012)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
John Mellnik, Paula A. Vasquez, Scott A. McKinley, Jacob Witten, David B. Hill, M. Gregory Forest
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
K. B. Smith-Dupont, C. E. Wagner, J. Witten, K. Conroy, H. Rudoltz, K. Pagidas, V. Snegovskikh, M. House, K. Ribbeck
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2017)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jacob Witten, Tahoura Samad, Katharina Ribbeck
Article
Biophysics
Emiko Zumbro, Jacob Witten, Alfredo Alexander-Katz
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2019)
Article
Biophysics
Tahoura Samad, Jacob Witten, Alan J. Grodzinsky, Katharina Ribbeck
Summary: Mucus is a hydrogel that selectively allows for passage of particles, but it also acts as a barrier for drug delivery and pathogen invasion. This study investigated the impact of particle charge, hydrophobicity, and spatial configuration on mucosal transport using specifically designed peptides. The results showed that net charge alone cannot fully predict mucosal transport, and the inclusion of hydrophobic residues and their positioning within the peptide also play a role. This research provides insights into predicting transport behavior and design of peptide-based particles for therapeutic purposes.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Allen Y. Jiang, Jacob Witten, Idris O. Raji, Feyisayo Eweje, Corina Macisaac, Sabrina Meng, Favour A. Oladimeji, Yizong Hu, Rajith S. Manan, Robert Langer, Daniel G. Anderson
Summary: By modifying the conditions of lipid nanoparticles, it is possible to achieve nebulized delivery of mRNA to the lungs, which has broad therapeutic potential.
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biophysics
Wesley G. Chen, Jacob Witten, Scott C. Grindy, Niels Holten-Andersen, Katharina Ribbeck
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2017)