Title:The Insights and Perspectives of Nitric Oxide-mediated Biofilm Eradication
Volume: 21
Issue: 24
Author(s): Mingke Yuan, Tao Sun, Jianbing Wu, Yue Fei, Yueqi Yang, Yong Ling, Yihua Zhang and Zhangjian Huang*
Affiliation:
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Diseases, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing210009,China
Keywords:
Nitric oxide (NO), Biofilm eradication, Antibiotic resistance, Bis-(3′-5′)-cyclic-diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-
GMP), Antibacterial therapy, Pathogenic infection.
Abstract: Biofilms are among the most important causes of nosocomial and recurrent infections as
biofilms confer antibiotic resistance to pathogenic bacteria and protect them from the host’s immune
system. Thus, it is imperative to investigate effective therapeutic agents to counteract biofilms.
As an important signaling molecule, Nitric Oxide (NO) plays a crucial role in various biological
and pathological processes. NO could disperse biofilm and restore the drug sensitivity by reducing
intracellular cyclic-diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) levels. This review highlights
recent advances on antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of NO when NO was co-administered with
other antimicrobial agents. A significant improvement in drug permeability and biofilm cell targeting
and reduced cytotoxicity could be attained with this strategy. In this review, we briefly lay out
challenges and propose future directions in this appealing avenue of research on NO-based therapy
for biofilm eradication.
