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Marine endonuclease may prevent, disperse enzymatic biofilm formation
The use of the NucB marine endonuclease prevented the formation of up to 72% of enzymatic biofilms on stainless steel, polyethylene.
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A marine endonuclease can help prevent and disperse the formation of biofilm, which is often associated with prosthetic joint infection, based on the results of a study presented at the British Orthopaedic Association Annual Congress.
High purity NucB, a novel marine bacterial endonuclease which degrades extracellular DNA, effectively prevented the formation of and dispersed clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis, which are both structural components of biofilm, Andrea Pujol Nicolas, MD, said.
“NucB is an effective enzyme for preventing biofilm formation and dispersing preformed biofilms from clinical strains of S. aureus and S. epidermidis and therefore has the potential to be developed into a new adjuvant in the treatment of periprosthetic joint infections,” Nicolas said.
The study won the investigators the British Orthopaedic Association Young Investigators Award.
Common pathogens studied
The investigators chose S. aureus and S. epidermidis to study because they are two of the most common pathogens associated with periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs). The investigators grew biofilms in microtiter plates and quantified the growth of the strains using violet staining and confocal microscopy.
The biofilms were grown on titanium, cobalt chrome, as well as polyethylene and steel surfaces, which are common materials used in hip and knee replacement prostheses, Nicholas said.
The biofilms were grown and treated with 1g/mL of NucB for 1 hour. The NucB used in the study was of high purity (greater than 95%).
Prevents biofilm formation
The investigators found the endonuclease prevented up to 72% of biofilms from forming. The use of NucB dispersed between 83% and 91% of S. epidermidis biofilm formation. The dispersal of S. aureus biofilm was less effective, but the investigators still observed 40% and 44% dispersal with the use of NucB, she said.
The varying effect of the NucB can be attributed to the differing amounts of extracellular DNA in each separate biofilm, according to Nicolas.
In the presence of NucB, antibiotics were found to have an increased effect on the ability to kill bacterial cells compared to controls, she said.
“You can see that when biofilms are treated with NucB, there is an increased number of cells, which is expected as NucB breaks down the biofilms and releases the bacteria back into the supernatant. But, when NucB and antibiotics work together, there is a significant reduction in the number of cells than [with] antibiotics only,” she said.
Nicolas concluded the NucB marine endonuclease is effective in dispersing and preventing the formation of biofilm on relevant metal materials. She said a therapeutic protein is currently being developed from NucB to reduce problems and infections related to PJIs. – by Robert Linnehan
- Reference:
- Nicolas AP, et al. Paper #604. Presented at: British Orthopaedic Association Annual Congress; Sept. 15-18, 2015; Liverpool, United Kingdom.
- For more information:
- Andrea Pujol Nicolas, MD, can be reached at Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RU, United Kingdom; email: a.pujol-nicolas@ncl.ac.uk.
Disclosure: Nicolas reports no relevant financial disclosures.