In vitro bactericidal and bacteriolytic activity of ceragenin CSA-13 against planktonic cultures and biofilms of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other pathogenic streptococci

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 9;9(7):e101037. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101037. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Ceragenin CSA-13, a cationic steroid, is here reported to show a concentration-dependent bactericidal/bacteriolytic activity against pathogenic streptococci, including multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The autolysis promoted by CSA-13 in pneumococcal cultures appears to be due to the triggering of the major S. pneumoniae autolysin LytA, an N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase. CSA-13 also disintegrated pneumococcal biofilms in a very efficient manner, although at concentrations slightly higher than those required for bactericidal activity on planktonic bacteria. CSA-13 has little hemolytic activity which should allow testing its antibacterial efficacy in animal models.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Biofilms / drug effects*
  • Erythrocytes / drug effects
  • Erythrocytes / physiology
  • Hemolysis
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microbial Viability / drug effects
  • Plankton / drug effects
  • Plankton / physiology
  • Sheep, Domestic
  • Steroids / pharmacology*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / drug effects*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / physiology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Steroids
  • ceragenin CSA-13

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (grant numbers SAF2009-10824, BFU2009-10052, BFU2012-36825, and SAF2012-39444-C02-01) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), which is an initiative of the ISCIII. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.