Control of Biofilm Infections by Signal Manipulation [electronic resource] / edited by Naomi Balaban.

Bacterial Cell-to-cell Communication (Quorum Sensing) -- Detection In Vitro of Quorum-Sensing Molecules and Their Inhibitors -- Quorum-Sensing Inhibitory Compounds -- Mathematical Modeling of Quorum-Sensing Control in Biofilms -- Animal Models Commonly Used to Study Quorum-Sensing Inhibitors -- In Vivo Studies: Inhibiting Biofilm-Associated Bacterial Infections Using QSIs -- Quorum Sensing in Streptococci -- Ironing Out the Biofilm Problem:The Role of Iron in Biofilm Formation -- Clinical Wound Healing Using Signal Inhibitors.

The medical miracle of antibiotics is being eroded by the emergence and spread of bacterial drug resistance. This is compounded by the fact that bacterial biofilms are believed to be a common cause of persistent infections, when because growing in biofilms, bacteria are protected from the hosts immune response and from antibiotics. In addition, biofilms may spawn systemic infections by sloughing of planktonic bacteria, leading to dissemination, bacteremia, sepsis, and death. The number of patients affected by and dying from what can be considered as a "biofilm disease" is higher than heart disease and cancer combined, making medical biofilms the biggest single disease that the healthcare system is facing today. This book describes the molecular mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication among bacterial cells in a biofilm, the development of antibiofilm inhibitors, like quorum-sensing inhibitors, and the use of biofilm inhibitors to prevent and treat bacterial infections in humans and other animals.

ZDB-2-SBL