Elisabeth Urbauer, Alexander Gräwe, Alexandre Chamas, Kai Papenfort
{"title":"Engineering quorum sensing: new directions for antimicrobial therapy.","authors":"Elisabeth Urbauer, Alexander Gräwe, Alexandre Chamas, Kai Papenfort","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.05.006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-cell communication mechanism that enables bacteria to coordinate gene expression in response to population density and community composition. In many pathogens, QS plays a central role in host colonization and virulence, making it an attractive target for antimicrobial intervention. Synthetic biology offers powerful tools to exploit this vulnerability by either disrupting QS signaling or engineering microorganisms with QS-based circuits to detect and eliminate pathogens. In this review, we examine how QS and QS interference can be harnessed for QS circuit engineering and translated into applications such as therapeutic microorganisms. We also highlight the transition of QS research from fundamental microbiology to translational biotechnology, underscoring its potential to drive innovative strategies against microbial virulence and antimicrobial resistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"1095-1108"},"PeriodicalIF":18.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in Microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2026.05.006","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/5/26 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-cell communication mechanism that enables bacteria to coordinate gene expression in response to population density and community composition. In many pathogens, QS plays a central role in host colonization and virulence, making it an attractive target for antimicrobial intervention. Synthetic biology offers powerful tools to exploit this vulnerability by either disrupting QS signaling or engineering microorganisms with QS-based circuits to detect and eliminate pathogens. In this review, we examine how QS and QS interference can be harnessed for QS circuit engineering and translated into applications such as therapeutic microorganisms. We also highlight the transition of QS research from fundamental microbiology to translational biotechnology, underscoring its potential to drive innovative strategies against microbial virulence and antimicrobial resistance.
期刊介绍：
Trends in Microbiology serves as a comprehensive, multidisciplinary forum for discussing various aspects of microbiology, spanning cell biology, immunology, genetics, evolution, virology, bacteriology, protozoology, and mycology. In the rapidly evolving field of microbiology, technological advancements, especially in genome sequencing, impact prokaryote biology from pathogens to extremophiles, influencing developments in drugs, vaccines, and industrial enzyme research.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
