Next-generation precision antimicrobials: towards personalized treatment of infectious diseases

Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez; Marcelo Dt Torres; Francisco Jm Mojica; Timothy K Lu

doi:10.1016/j.mib.2017.05.014

Next-generation precision antimicrobials: towards personalized treatment of infectious diseases

Curr Opin Microbiol. 2017 Jun:37:95-102. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.05.014. Epub 2017 Jun 14.

Authors

Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez¹, Marcelo Dt Torres², Francisco Jm Mojica³, Timothy K Lu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Synthetic Biology Group, MIT Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Biophysics Program, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; The Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: cfuente@mit.edu.
² Synthetic Biology Group, MIT Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Biophysics Program, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; The Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA; Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Fisiología, Genética y Microbiología, Universidad de Alicante, Pavilion 12, 03080, Alicante, Spain.
⁴ Synthetic Biology Group, MIT Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Biophysics Program, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; The Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: timlu@mit.edu.

Abstract

Antibiotics started to be used almost 90 years ago to eradicate life-threatening infections. The urgency of the problem required rapid, broad-spectrum elimination of infectious agents. Since their initial discovery, these antimicrobials have saved millions of lives. However, they are not exempt from side effects, which include the indiscriminate disruption of the beneficial microbiota. Recent technological advances have enabled the development of antimicrobials that can selectively target a gene, a cellular process, or a microbe of choice. These strategies bring us a step closer to developing personalized therapies that exclusively remove disease-causing infectious agents. Here, we advocate the preservation of our beneficial microbes and provide an overview of promising alternatives to broad-spectrum antimicrobials. Specifically, we emphasize nucleic acid and peptide-based systems as a foundation for next-generation alternatives to antibiotics that do not challenge our microbiota and may help to mitigate the spread of resistance.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology*
Biological Products / pharmacology*
Biological Therapy / methods*
Communicable Diseases / drug therapy*
Humans
Precision Medicine / methods*

Substances

Anti-Infective Agents
Biological Products

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding