Title:Riboswitches as Potential Targets for the Development of Anti-Biofilm Drugs
Volume: 17
Issue: 17
Author(s): Jose A. Reyes-Darias and Tino Krell *
Affiliation:
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Granada,Spain
Keywords:
Riboswitch, Bacterial biofilms, c-di-GMP, Biofilm inhibition, c-di-GMP analogs, Aptamer.
Abstract: In nature, bacteria can exist as single motile cells or as sessile cellular community, known as
microbial biofilms. Bacteria within biofilms are embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix that
makes them more resistant to antibiotic treatment and responses of the host immune system. Microbial
biofilms are very important in medicine since they are associated with several human diseases such as
dental caries, periodontitis, otitis media, infective endocarditis, infectious kidney stones, osteomyelitis or
prostatitis. In addition, biofilms formed on the surface of clinical devices such as pacemakers, implants
and catheters are difficult to treat, which underlines the clinical relevance of biofilm formation. At the
molecular level, the switch from the planktonic state to biofilm formation is regulated primarily by bis-
(3'-5)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP). C-di-GMP performs its function by binding
to a wide variety of proteins, but also to riboswitches. C-di-GMP riboswitches are RNA regulatory
elements located in the 5′-untranslated regions (5′-UTRs) of RNA messengers (mRNA) from genes involved
in virulence, motility and biofilm formation, which are regulated by changes in the intracellular
concentration of c-di-GMP. This review discusses the role of c-di-GMP responsive riboswitches as potential
targets for the design of anti-biofilm agents.
