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Review
. 2021 Feb 2;13(2):196.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13020196.

Bacteriocins in the Era of Antibiotic Resistance: Rising to the Challenge

Gratiela Gradisteanu Pircalabioru  1 , Laura Ioana Popa  1 , Luminita Marutescu  1 , Irina Gheorghe  1 , Marcela Popa  1 , Ilda Czobor Barbu  1 , Rodica Cristescu  2 , Mariana-Carmen Chifiriuc  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Bacteriocins in the Era of Antibiotic Resistance: Rising to the Challenge

Gratiela Gradisteanu Pircalabioru et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

Decades of antibiotic misuse in clinical settings, animal feed, and within the food industry have led to a concerning rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Every year, antimicrobial-resistant infections cause 700,000 deaths, with 10 million casualties expected by 2050, if this trend continues. Hence, innovative solutions are imperative to curb antibiotic resistance. Bacteria produce a potent arsenal of drugs with remarkable diversity that are all distinct from those of current antibiotics. Bacteriocins are potent small antimicrobial peptides synthetized by certain bacteria that may be appointed as alternatives to traditional antibiotics. These molecules are strategically employed by commensals, mostly Firmicutes, to colonize and persist in the human gut. Bacteriocins form channels in the target cell membrane, leading to leakage of low-molecular-weight, causing the disruption of the proton motive force. The objective of this review was to list and discuss the potential of bacteriocins as antimicrobial therapeutics for infections produced mainly by resistant pathogens.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; bacteriocins; nisin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance; CC-BY-4.0 license.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Common targets for antibiotics and bacteriocins; CC-BY-4.0 license.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Main examples of bacteriocins produces by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as those produced by Archaea (original figure, made using biorender.com).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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