Coumarin: a novel player in microbial quorum sensing and biofilm formation inhibition

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat worldwide, causing serious problems in the treatment of microbial infections. The discovery and development of new drugs is urgently needed to overcome this problem which has greatly undermined the clinical effectiveness of conventional antibiotics. An intricate cell-cell communication system termed quorum sensing (QS) and the coordinated multicellular behaviour of biofilm formation have both been identified as promising targets for the treatment and clinical management of microbial infections. QS systems allow bacteria to adapt rapidly to harsh conditions, and are known to promote the formation of antibiotic tolerant biofilm communities. It is well known that biofilm is a recalcitrant mode of growth and it also increases bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics. The pharmacological properties of coumarins have been well described, and these have included several that possess antimicrobial properties. More recently, reports have highlighted the potential role of coumarins as alternative therapeutic strategies based on their ability to block the QS signalling systems and to inhibit the formation of biofilms in clinically relevant pathogens. In addition to human infections, coumarins have also been found to be effective in controlling plant pathogens, infections in aquaculture, food spoilage and in reducing biofouling caused by eukaryotic organisms. Thus, the coumarin class of small molecule natural product are emerging as a promising strategy to combat bacterial infections in the new era of antimicrobial resistance.

Antivirulence properties and related mechanisms of spice essential oils: A comprehensive review

“…QS has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of pathogenic bacteria, and a number of virulence factors are under its control (Harjai, Kumar, & Singh, 2010). Thus, it is a reasonable and innovative strategy to target QS to attenuate infections or other bacterial‐induced diseases (S. Kumar, Kolodkin‐Gal, & Engelberg‐Kulka, 2013; Reen, Gutierrez‐Barranquero, Parages, & O'Gara, 2018). Unlike traditional bacteriostatic or bactericidal agents, QS inhibitors (QSIs) usually act at concentrations below the MIC, avoiding influencing bacterial growth and selective pressure for the development of drug resistance (Defoirdt, 2018).…”

Cytotoxic Action of Artemisinin and Scopoletin on Planktonic Forms and on Biofilms of Candida Species

“…This may be due to the abilities of the sesquiterpenoids to have action on amyloid proteins, which are one of the major building blocks of microbial biofilms [31][32][33][34]. On the other hand, Sc treatment showed a dramatic decrement in the total biomass including cell loss from the polystyrene surface in case of C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. glabrata, which might be due to the action of coumarin derivatives on the chemical pathways such as quorum sensing resulting in biofilm dispersion [35][36][37][38][39][40]. However, the higher metabolic activities and the less cell death rate found in the case of C. gulliermondii indicates the presence of other drug resistance mechanism factors apart from poor drug penetration into Candida biofilms.…”

“…For Sc the MEC 10 values were: C. albicans 132.17 ± 4.19; C. dubliniensis 132.17 ± 5.08; C. tropicalis 134.27 ± 4.66; C. krusei 162.01 ± 5.03; C. glabrata 215. 38.97 ± 5.41; C. guilliermondii 149.2 ± 5.32, and C. parapsilosis 164.7 ± 5.26 (in µg/mL). The curves have expressed a dose-dependent cell survival (CFU count) after 60 min exposure to Ar and Sc.…”

Screening of natural compounds that targets glutamate racemase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals the anti-tubercular potential of flavonoids

“…In the current study, we analyzed the molecular interactions of protein-ligand which was docked by Discovery studio (DS) 4.0, a commercial software followed by MD simulation studies. We have selected a wide range of various classes of natural compounds (Table S1) [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] which were docked to identify potential compounds against MTB-MurI. Molecular docking studies were carried out to study the binding modes of natural compounds with MTB-MurI (PDB ID: 5HJ7) 32 .…”