Author(s): Fraga, Alexandra G. ; Branquinho, Gabriela Alexandra Trigo ; Murthy, Ramya K. ; Akhtar, Shamim ; Hebbur, Madhavi ; Pacheco, Ana Rita ; Dominguez, Juan ; Silva-Gomes, Rita ; Gonçalves, Carine M. ; Oliveira, Hugo Alexandre Mendes ; Castro, António G. ; Sharma, Umender ; Azeredo, Joana ; Pedrosa, Jorge
Date: 2019
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/61425
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Although the current antibiotic treatment for BU is effective, daily administrations for a prolonged period of time, combined with potential risk of severe side effects, negatively impact on patient adherence. In that sense, we tested the efficacy of an alternative strategy based on Lysin B (LysB), a phage encoded lipolytic enzyme that degrades the mycolylarabinogalactan-peptidoglycan complex present in the mycobacterial cell wall. In this study, we show that LysB not only displays lytic activity against M. ulcerans isolates in vitro, but also leads to a decrease of M. ulcerans proliferation in infected mouse footpads. These findings highlight the potential use of lysins as a novel therapeutic approach against this neglected tropical disease.
