• 생명과학회지
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.788-793
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• 2012

본 연구는 어류 병원균의 비 유전성을 가지는 항생제 내성균인 persister cell에 관한 연구이다. Persister cell은 기존의 항생제를 분해하는 저항균체(resistant cell)와는 다른 특성으로 항생제에 대한 저항성을 가지는데, 항생제가 존재하는 환경에서 새로운 기작으로 항생제에 대한 내성을 형성한다. 그래서 기존의 양식장에서 어류를 키울 때 어류에 투여하는 항생제는 일반적인 균주의 사멸 항생제 농도보다 더 높은 농도의 항생제를 투여하게 된다. 특히, E. tarda에 대한 다양한 항생제가 개발되어 있지만 내성균의 출현으로 그 효과가 좋지 않으며, 또한 persister cell에 의한 질병 재발을 방지하기 위해 균사멸 농도보다 훨씬 높은 농도의 항생제를 처리하고 있다. Persiser cell의 특이적인 저감 효과를 확인 하기 위하여 선별된 3종의 식물 추출물(돌외, 예덕나무, 상산)을 항생제와 함께 사용하였으며, 돌외와 예덕나무가 100 ${\mu}g/ml$, 상산은 200 ${\mu}g/ml$의 농도에서 persister cell의 사멸 효과를 나타내었다. 또한 넙치를 이용한 12일간의 누적 폐사율을 조사한 결과, 식물 추출물과 항생제 혼합액의 복강 투여구가 항생제 단독의 복강 투여구 보다 낮은 누적 폐사율이 관찰되었고, 항생제에 첨가한 식물 추출물의 농도가 돌외 30 ${\mu}g/ml$, 예덕나무 10 ${\mu}g/ml$, 상산 10 ${\mu}g/ml$의 농도 투여구에서 가장 낮은 누적 폐사율을 나타내었다. 따라서 본 연구에 사용된 세가지 추출물들(돌외, 예덕나무, 상산)은 항균 활성을 가지지 않은 농도에서 항생제와 병용하여 persister cell의 저감 효과가 있음을 확인하였다.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제52권2호
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• pp.145-156
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• 2024

Unlike resistant cells, persister cells resist antibiotics due to a decreased cellular metabolic rate and can transition back to normal susceptible cells when the antibiotic is removed. These persister cells contribute to the chronic symptoms of infectious diseases and promote the emergence of resistant strains with continuous antibiotic exposure. Therefore, eliminating persister cells represents a promising approach to significantly enhance antibiotic efficacy. Here, we found that Coicis Semen extract reduced Staphylococcus aureus persister cells at a concentration of 0.5 g/L. Linoleic acid and oleic acid, the major components of Coicis Semen extract, exhibited a comparable reduction in persister cells when combined with three antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, oxacillin, and tobramycin. Conversely, these effects were nullified in the presence of the surfactant Tween 80 (1%), suggesting that the hydrophobic characteristics of linoleic acid and oleic acids play a pivotal role in reducing the number of S. aureus persister cells. Considering the concentration-dependent effects of linoleic acid and oleic acid, the persister-reducing activity of Coicis Semen extract was primarily attributed to these fatty acids. Moreover, Coicis Semen extract, linoleic acid, and oleic acid increased the cell membrane permeability of S. aureus. Interestingly, this effect was counteracted by 1% Tween 80, indicating a close association between the reduction of persister cells and the increase in cell membrane permeability. The identified compounds could thus be used to eliminate persister cells, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy and shortening treatment duration. When used in conjunction with antibiotics, they may also mitigate chronic symptoms and significantly reduce the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.854-862
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• 2024

Lactobacillus is a commonly used probiotic, and many researchers have focused on its stress response to improve its functionality and survival. However, studies on persister cells, dormant cells that aid bacteria in surviving general stress, have focused on pathogenic bacteria that cause infection, not Lactobacillus. Thus, understanding Lactobacillus persister cells will provide essential clues for understanding how Lactobacillus survives and maintains its function under various environmental conditions. We treated Lactobacillus strains with various antibiotics to determine the conditions required for persister formation using kill curves and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, we observed the resuscitation patterns of persister cells using single-cell analysis. Our results show that Lactobacillus creates a small population of persister cells (0.0001-1% of the bacterial population) in response to beta-lactam antibiotics such as ampicillin and amoxicillin. Moreover, only around 0.5-1% of persister cells are heterogeneously resuscitated by adding fresh media; the characteristics are typical of persister cells. This study provides a method for forming and verifying the persistence of Lactobacillus and demonstrates that antibiotic-induced Lactobacillus persister cells show characteristics of dormancy, sensitivity of antibiotics, same as exponential cells, multi-drug tolerance, and resuscitation, which are characteristics of general persister cells. This study suggests that the mechanisms of formation and resuscitation may vary depending on the characteristics, such as the membrane structure of the bacterial species.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.157-162
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• 2023

In the field of microbiology, numerous types of bacteria live dormant to survive stresses such as pasteurization and antibiotics. Some bacteria become 'persisters' by inactivating their ribosomes, allowing them to 'sleep' through stress and revive when the stress has been removed. Under stress, some cells morph into hollow, lifeless structures known as 'cell shells.' In microbiology, these cells have been confused with viable cells in the 'viable but non-culturable cells' phenomenon. Therefore, this review addressed the concept that when revival occurs, the always-viable persister cells revive, instead of the dead cell husks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.130-136
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• 2021

Persister cell formation and biofilms of pathogens are extensively involved in the development of chronic infectious diseases. Eradicating persister cells is challenging, owing to their tolerance to conventional antibiotics, which cannot kill cells in a metabolically dormant state. A high frequency of persisters in biofilms makes inactivating biofilm cells more difficult, because the biofilm matrix inhibits antibiotic penetration. Fatty acids may be promising candidates as antipersister or antibiofilm agents, because some fatty acids exhibit antimicrobial effects. We previously reported that fatty acid ethyl esters effectively inhibit Escherichia coli persister formation by regulating an antitoxin. In this study, we screened a fatty acid library consisting of 65 different fatty acid molecules for altered persister formation. We found that undecanoic acid, lauric acid, and N-tridecanoic acid inhibited E. coli BW25113 persister cell formation by 25-, 58-, and 44-fold, respectively. Similarly, these fatty acids repressed persisters of enterohemorrhagic E. coli EDL933. These fatty acids were all medium-chain saturated forms. Furthermore, the fatty acids repressed Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) biofilm formation (for example, by 8-fold for lauric acid) without having antimicrobial activity. This study demonstrates that medium-chain saturated fatty acids can serve as antipersister and antibiofilm agents that may be applied to treat bacterial infections.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.145-156
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• 2021

Antibiotics are used in many sectors, including the dairy industry, to prevent bacterial infections in humans, animals, and plants. When bacterial cells are exposed to stressors, such as antibiotic exposure, a subpopulation of the cells becomes dormant. This helps the pathogen to revive and reconstitute its pathogenicity. Thus, eradicating the dormant cells may be an effective strategy to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria caused by the abuse of antibiotics. In recent years, a large number of indole-related compounds have been reported to eradicate persister cells. In this review, we provide a summary of the mechanisms of persister cell formation and resuscitation, and the ability of indole and substituted indoles to eradicate persister cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.115-122
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• 2021

Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are responsible for regulating biofilm formation, persister cell formation, pmtR expression, host cell lysis, and anti-bacterial effects. To determine the effect of psm deletion on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, we investigated psm deletion mutants including Δpsmα, Δpsmβ, and Δpsmαβ. These mutants exhibited increased β-lactam antibiotic resistance to ampicillin and oxacillin that was shown to be caused by increased N-acetylmannosamine kinase (nanK) mRNA expression, which regulates persister cell formation, leading to changes in the pattern of phospholipid fatty acids resulting in increased anteiso-C15:0, and increased membrane hydrophobicity with the deletion of PSMs. When synthetic PSMs were applied to Δpsmα and Δpsmβ mutants, treatment of Δpsmα with PSMα1-4 and Δpsmβ with PSMβ1-2 restored the sensitivity to oxacillin and slightly reduced the biofilm formation. Addition of a single fragment showed that α1, α2, α3, and β2 had an inhibiting effect on biofilms in Δpsmα; however, β1 showed an enhancing effect on biofilms in Δpsmβ. This study demonstrates a possible reason for the increased antibiotic resistance in psm mutants and the effect of PSMs on biofilm formation.

• BMB Reports
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.611-621
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• 2020

Bacterial endoribonuclease toxins belong to a protein family that inhibits bacterial growth by degrading mRNA or rRNA sequences. The toxin genes are organized in pairs with its cognate antitoxins in the chromosome and thus the activities of the toxins are antagonized by antitoxin proteins or RNAs during active translation. In response to a variety of cellular stresses, the endoribonuclease toxins appear to be released from antitoxin molecules via proteolytic cleavage of antitoxin proteins or preferential degradation of antitoxin RNAs and cleave a diverse range of mRNA or rRNA sequences in a sequence-specific or codon-specific manner, resulting in various biological phenomena such as antibiotic tolerance and persister cell formation. Given that substrate specificity of each endoribonuclease toxin is determined by its structure and the composition of active site residues, we summarize the biology, structure, and substrate specificity of the updated bacterial endoribonuclease toxins.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.265-274
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• 2016

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) system은 박테리아와 고세균에서 진화적으로 보존되어 흔히 발견되는 유전적 모듈이다. 기본적으로 이 시스템은 세포 내 toxin과 그들의 억제자로 작용하는 antitoxin으로 구성되어있으며, 현재 총 다섯가지 유형으로 구분된다. 공통적으로 toxin은 스트레스 조건에서 활성화됨으로써 세포 내 다양한 과정을 억제하는 활성을 가지는데 이는 결과적으로 세포 사멸 혹은 가역적인 생장 저해를 일으킨다. Toxin의 이러한 효과들은 유전자 발현의 조절, 성장 조절, programmed cell arrest, programmed cell death, persister cell의 형성, 박테리오파지 방어기작, 가동성 유전인자의 안정화, 플라스미드 유지 기작 등 다양한 생리학적 역할을 나타낸다. 그러므로 TA system은 일반적인 스트레스 반응모듈로서 여겨진다. 하지만 이를 역이용한다면 TA system으로부터 toxin을 활성화 시키는 인자를 개발하여 새로운 항균 물질로 이용할 수 있다. 그뿐만 아니라 TA system은 toxin의 세포 사멸 효과를 이용하여 원하는 타겟 유전자가 존재하는 세포만 선택적으로 살아남도록 하는 효율적인 클로닝 전략에 이용될 수 있다. 또한, toxin의 서열 특이적 리보핵산 가수분해효소 활성을 이용하여 타겟 단백질 이외의 단백질 합성을 막아 효과적인 단일 단백질 대량 생산을 위해서도 이용할 수 있다. 더 나아가 일부 TA system의 toxin은 진핵 세포에서도 세포 독성을 나타내기 때문에 암세포, 바이러스 감염 세포에서 toxin의 발현을 유도하여 세포사멸을 일으킴으로써 인간의 질병 치료로 이어질 수 있다.