Recent Advances in Bacterial Persistence Mechanisms

Overview

Journal Int J Mol Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Chemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2023 Sep 28

PMID 37762613

Authors

Xiaozhou Pan

Wenxin Liu

Qingqing Du

Hong Zhang

Dingding Han

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The recurrence of bacterial infectious diseases is closely associated with bacterial persisters. This subpopulation of bacteria can escape antibiotic treatment by entering a metabolic status of low activity through various mechanisms, for example, biofilm, toxin-antitoxin modules, the stringent response, and the SOS response. Correspondingly, multiple new treatments are being developed. However, due to their spontaneous low abundance in populations and the lack of research on in vivo interactions between persisters and the host's immune system, microfluidics, high-throughput sequencing, and microscopy techniques are combined innovatively to explore the mechanisms of persister formation and maintenance at the single-cell level. Here, we outline the main mechanisms of persister formation, and describe the cutting-edge technology for further research. Despite the significant progress regarding study techniques, some challenges remain to be tackled.

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