PMID:15616283

Citation	Cheng, Q, Nelson, D, Zhu, S and Fischetti, VA (2005) Removal of group B streptococci colonizing the vagina and oropharynx of mice with a bacteriophage lytic enzyme. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49:111-7
Abstract	Group B streptococci (GBS) are the leading cause of neonatal meningitis and sepsis worldwide. The current treatment strategy is limited to intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis in pregnant women to prevent early-onset neonatal diseases, but considering the potential for antibiotic resistance, the risk of losing control over the disease is high. To approach this problem, we have developed a bacteriophage (phage) lytic enzyme to remove colonizing GBS. Bacteriophage muralytic enzymes, termed lysins, are highly evolved molecules designed to degrade the cell wall of host bacteria to release phage particles from the bacterial cytoplasm. Several different lysins have been developed to specifically kill bacterial pathogens both on mucosal surfaces and in blood and represent a novel approach to control infection. A lysin cloned from a phage infecting GBS was found to contain two putative catalytic domains and one putative binding domain, which is similar to the domain organization of some staphylococcal phage lysins. The lysin (named PlyGBS) was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified PlyGBS efficiently killed all tested GBS serotypes in vitro. In a mouse model, a single dose of PlyGBS significantly reduced bacterial colonization in both the vagina and oropharynx. As an alternative strategy for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, this approach may be used to reduce vaginal GBS colonization in pregnant women before delivery or to decontaminate newborns, thus reducing the incidence of GBS-associated neonatal meningitis and sepsis.
Links	PubMed PMC538902 Online version:10.1128/AAC.49.1.111-117.2005
Keywords	Animals; Bacteriolysis; Disease Models, Animal; Enzymes/genetics; Enzymes/isolation & purification; Enzymes/metabolism; Enzymes/therapeutic use; Escherichia coli/enzymology; Escherichia coli/genetics; Female; Humans; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Molecular Sequence Data; Oropharynx/microbiology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Streptococcal Infections/microbiology; Streptococcal Infections/therapy; Streptococcus agalactiae/growth & development; Streptococcus agalactiae/physiology; Streptococcus agalactiae/virology; Vagina/microbiology
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Annotations

Gene product	Qualifier	GO Term	Evidence Code	with/from	Aspect	Extension	Notes	Status
9CAUD:Q5MY96	involved_in	GO:0044659: cytolysis by virus of host cell	ECO:0000314: direct assay evidence used in manual assertion		P		Seeded From UniProt	complete
9CAUD:Q5MY96		GO:0044659: cytolysis by virus of host cell	ECO:0000314:		P		Figures 3 and 4 show in vitro PlyGBS induced lysis of numerous GBS cells and other bacterial strains.	complete CACAO 10858

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