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The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms’ high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages were previously tested as novel th...

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Autores principales: Melo, Luís D. R., Pinto, Graça, Oliveira, Fernando, Vilas-Boas, Diana, Almeida, Carina, Sillankorva, Sanna, Cerca, Nuno, Azeredo, Joana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7601396/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32992766
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12101076
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author Melo, Luís D. R.
Pinto, Graça
Oliveira, Fernando
Vilas-Boas, Diana
Almeida, Carina
Sillankorva, Sanna
Cerca, Nuno
Azeredo, Joana
author_facet Melo, Luís D. R.
Pinto, Graça
Oliveira, Fernando
Vilas-Boas, Diana
Almeida, Carina
Sillankorva, Sanna
Cerca, Nuno
Azeredo, Joana
author_sort Melo, Luís D. R.
collection PubMed
description Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms’ high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages were previously tested as novel therapeutic agents. However, several staphylococcal bacteriophages were shown to be inefficient against biofilms. In this study, the previously characterized S. epidermidis-specific Sepunavirus phiIBB-SEP1 (SEP1), which has a broad spectrum and high activity against planktonic cells, was evaluated concerning its efficacy against S. epidermidis biofilms. The in vitro biofilm killing assays demonstrated a reduced activity of the phage. To understand the underlying factors impairing SEP1 inefficacy against biofilms, this phage was tested against distinct planktonic and biofilm-derived bacterial populations. Interestingly, SEP1 was able to lyse planktonic cells in different physiological states, suggesting that the inefficacy for biofilm control resulted from the biofilm 3D structure and the protective effect of the matrix. To assess the impact of the biofilm architecture on phage predation, SEP1 was tested in disrupted biofilms resulting in a 2 orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of viable cells after 6 h of infection. The interaction between SEP1 and the biofilm matrix was further assessed by the addition of matrix to phage particles. Results showed that the matrix did not inactivate phages nor affected phage adsorption. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy data demonstrated that phage infected cells were less predominant in the biofilm regions where the matrix was more abundant. Our results provide compelling evidence indicating that the biofilm matrix can work as a barrier, allowing the bacteria to be hindered from phage infection.
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spelling pubmed-76013962020-11-01 The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation Melo, Luís D. R. Pinto, Graça Oliveira, Fernando Vilas-Boas, Diana Almeida, Carina Sillankorva, Sanna Cerca, Nuno Azeredo, Joana Viruses Article Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms’ high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages were previously tested as novel therapeutic agents. However, several staphylococcal bacteriophages were shown to be inefficient against biofilms. In this study, the previously characterized S. epidermidis-specific Sepunavirus phiIBB-SEP1 (SEP1), which has a broad spectrum and high activity against planktonic cells, was evaluated concerning its efficacy against S. epidermidis biofilms. The in vitro biofilm killing assays demonstrated a reduced activity of the phage. To understand the underlying factors impairing SEP1 inefficacy against biofilms, this phage was tested against distinct planktonic and biofilm-derived bacterial populations. Interestingly, SEP1 was able to lyse planktonic cells in different physiological states, suggesting that the inefficacy for biofilm control resulted from the biofilm 3D structure and the protective effect of the matrix. To assess the impact of the biofilm architecture on phage predation, SEP1 was tested in disrupted biofilms resulting in a 2 orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of viable cells after 6 h of infection. The interaction between SEP1 and the biofilm matrix was further assessed by the addition of matrix to phage particles. Results showed that the matrix did not inactivate phages nor affected phage adsorption. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy data demonstrated that phage infected cells were less predominant in the biofilm regions where the matrix was more abundant. Our results provide compelling evidence indicating that the biofilm matrix can work as a barrier, allowing the bacteria to be hindered from phage infection. MDPI 2020-09-25 /pmc/articles/PMC7601396/ /pubmed/32992766 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12101076 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Melo, Luís D. R.
Pinto, Graça
Oliveira, Fernando
Vilas-Boas, Diana
Almeida, Carina
Sillankorva, Sanna
Cerca, Nuno
Azeredo, Joana
The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title_full The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title_fullStr The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title_full_unstemmed The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title_short The Protective Effect of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Matrix against Phage Predation
title_sort protective effect of staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm matrix against phage predation
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7601396/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32992766
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12101076
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