APTC-C-SA01: A Novel Bacteriophage Cocktail Targeting <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and MRSA Biofilms
The high infection and mortality rate of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) necessitates the urgent development of new treatment strategies. Bacteriophages (phages) have several advantages compared to antibiotics for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant bacterial...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/11/6116 |
| Summary: | The high infection and mortality rate of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) necessitates the urgent development of new treatment strategies. Bacteriophages (phages) have several advantages compared to antibiotics for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections, and thus provide a promising alternative to antibiotics. Here, <i>S. aureus</i> phages were isolated from patients and environmental sources. Phages were characterized for stability, morphology and genomic sequence and their bactericidal activity against the biofilm form of methicillin-susceptible <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MSSA) and MRSA was investigated. Four <i>S. aureus</i> phages were isolated and tested against 51 MSSA and MRSA clinical isolates and reference strains. The phages had a broad host range of 82–94% individually and of >98% when combined and could significantly reduce the viability of <i>S. aureus</i> biofilms. The phages had a latent period of ≤20 min and burst size of >11 plaque forming units (PFU)/infected cell. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) identified phages belonging to the family of <i>Myoviridae</i>. Genomic sequencing indicated the lytic nature of all four phages, with no identified resistance or virulence genes. The 4 phages showed a high complementarity with 49/51 strains (96%) sensitive to at least 2/4 phages tested. Furthermore, the frequency of bacteriophage insensitive mutant (BIM) generation was lower when the phages were combined into the phage cocktail APTC-C-SA01 than for bacteria exposed to each of the phages alone. In conclusion, APTC-C-SA01, containing four lytic <i>S. aureus</i> phages has the potential for further development as a treatment against MSSA and MRSA infections. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |