Sensitizing pathogens to antibiotics using the CRISPR-Cas system. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goren, Moran; Yosef, Ido; Qimron, Udi
• Is Part Of: Drug resistance updates. Volume 30(2017)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 6
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: Antibiotic resistance -- Selective pressure -- Bacteriophage delivery vectors -- ESKAPE pathogens; Drug resistance in cancer cells -- Periodicals; Cancer -- Chemotherapy -- Periodicals; 616.994061
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drup.2016.11.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-7646

Abstract

Abstract: The extensive use of antibiotics over the last century has resulted in a significant artificial selection pressure for antibiotic-resistant pathogens to evolve. Various strategies to fight these pathogens have been introduced including new antibiotics, naturally-derived enzymes/peptides that specifically target pathogens and bacteriophages that lyse these pathogens. A new tool has recently been introduced in the fight against drug-resistant pathogens–the prokaryotic defense mechanism–clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR associated (CRISPR-Cas) system. The CRISPR-Cas system acts as a nuclease that can be guided to cleave any target DNA, allowing sophisticated, yet feasible, manipulations of pathogens. Here, we review pioneering studies that use the CRISPR-Cas system to specifically edit bacterial populations, eliminate their resistance genes and combine these two strategies in order to produce an artificial selection pressure for antibiotic-sensitive pathogens. We suggest that intelligent design of this system, along with efficient delivery tools into pathogens, may significantly reduce the threat of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.