Revisiting AI-2 Quorum Sensing Inhibitors: Direct Comparison of Alkyl-DPD Analogues and a Natural Product Fimbrolide

摘要

Because of the sheer number of cells in bacterial populations, coordinated efforts of individual cells would enable these colonies to effectively compete with higher multicellular organisms. This is indeed the case in a process known as "quorum sensing" (QS). In this process, bacteria secrete and respond to small diffusible chemical signals, or autoinducers, in a cell density-dependent process. As the number of cells, and thus autoinducer concentrations, increase, bacteria coordinate their gene expression to behave as a unified group. These concerted efforts are beneficial to the bacterial population, but often come at the expense of human health, as QS has been shown to regulate such functions as biofilm formation and the expression of virulence factors. Consequently, the modulation of QS has emerged as a therapeutic target of considerable interest.