#MicroTwJC Week 21 Paper & Discussion Points

Evening All,

This weeks paper looks at some novel inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus virulence genes and biofilm formation.  The abstract and discussion points are listed below and the paper can be found here.  The team looks forward to you joining us on Tuesday 19th February 2012 8pm GMT for the discussion!

ABSTRACT:

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and one of the more prominent pathogens causing biofilm related infections in clinic. Antibiotic resistance in S. aureus such as methicillin resistance is approaching an epidemic level. Antibiotic resistance is widespread among major human pathogens and poses a serious problem for public health. Conventional antibiotics are either bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal, leading to strong selection for antibiotic resistant pathogens. An alternative approach of inhibiting pathogen virulence without inhibiting bacterial growth may minimize the selection pressure for resistance. In previous studies, we identified a chemical series of low molecular weight compounds capable of inhibiting group A streptococcus virulence following this alternative anti-microbial approach. In the current study, we demonstrated that two analogs of this class of novel anti-virulence compounds also inhibited virulence gene expression of S. aureus and exhibited an inhibitory effect on S. aureusbiofilm formation. This class of anti-virulence compounds could be a starting point for development of novel anti-microbial agents against S. aureus.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

• As always, is the paper well written and coherent?
• Are correct methods used to fulfil the research question?
• Are their any methods you would liked to have seen?
• Are the conclusions reflective of the data?
• Are anti-virulence compounds the next novel anti-microbial agents?