Interactions between Bacteriophages and Eukaryotic Cells

Abstract

As the name implies, bacteriophage is a bacterium-specific virus. It infects and kills the bacterial host. Bacteriophages have gained attention as alternative antimicrobial entities in the science community in the western world since the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance among microbes. Although generally considered as prokaryote-specific viruses, recent studies indicate that bacteriophages can interact with eukaryotic organisms, including humans. In the current review, these interactions are divided into two categories, i.e., indirect and direct interactions, with the involvement of bacteriophages, bacteria, and eukaryotes. We discuss bacteriophage-related diseases, transcytosis of bacteriophages, bacteriophage interactions with cancer cells, collaboration of bacteriophages and eukaryotes against bacterial infections, and horizontal gene transfer between bacteriophages and eukaryotes. Such interactions are crucial for understanding and developing bacteriophages as the therapeutic agents and pharmaceutical delivery systems. With the advancement and combination of in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches and clinical trials, bacteriophages definitely serve as useful repertoire for biologic target-based drug development to manage many complex diseases in the future.

Microbiome and cancer

“…In addition to eukaryotic viruses, bacteriophages may also act as modulators of cancer. For example, some bacteriophages may interact with cancer cells and downregulate the expression of integrins and other proteins involved in carcinogenesis and metastasis (Putra and Lyrawati, 2020). Other phages, of the families Syphoviridae and Myoviridae, were enriched in CRC patient feces.…”

“…Likewise, increased populations of multiple Streptococcus-specific bacteriophages and a Vibrio-inhabiting bacteriophage were detected in the gut of CRC patients as compared with controls (Nakatsu et al, 2018). Putatively, these bacteriophage alterations may initiate genetic exchange, enabling ecological adaptations and community networking within the host, thereby impacting cancer (Putra and Lyrawati, 2020). These associations notwithstanding, a direct effect of phages on carcinogenesis has yet to be shown.…”

Length of Hospital Stay and Oseltamivir in Mild or Moderate Degree COVID-19 Patients in North Sumatra, Indonesia

“…The wide range of length of hospital stay in this patient population was not due to drugs used or comorbidities. It may be due to variation of the genetic of the virus [12], patients [13] and/or interaction with microbiome of the patients [14] which affect the overall speed of clinical response of the patients. Unfortunately, such probabilities could not be tested as there is no sophisticated facilities such as DNA/RNA sequencing for the virus and patients in the studied hospital.…”

A Review of Using Mathematical Modeling to Improve Our Understanding of Bacteriophage, Bacteria, and Eukaryotic Interactions

“…FBA estimates the rates of metabolite production and consumption within a cell by using existing genetic and reaction-network information and making simplifying assumptions to render the problem mathematically tractable. It can be likened to a constrained flow chart of cellular reactions, where the impact of gene knockouts, perturbations and drug inhibition on fitness and metabolite production can be studied ( Raman and Chandra, 2009 ; Putra and Lyrawati, 2020 ). For a ‘whole cell’ or metabolome model, an FBA is surprisingly simple ( Figure 2 ).…”