Hydrolytic Enzymes as Potentiators of Antimicrobials against an Inter-Kingdom Biofilm Model
Albert Ruiz-Sorribas, Hervé Poilvache, Nur Hidayatul Nazirah Kamarudin, Annabel Braem, Françoise Van Bambeke
Abstract
Biofilms are recalcitrant to antimicrobial treatments. This problem is even more critical when dealing with polymicrobial, interkingdom biofilms, including both bacteria and fungi, as these microorganisms cooperate to strengthen the biofilm and produce a complex matrix. Here, we demonstrate that the protease subtilisin A used alone, or a cocktail containing lyticase, cellulase, denarase, and dispersin B markedly reduce the biomass of interkingdom biofilms and cooperate with antimicrobials to act upon these recalcitrant forms of infection. This work may open perspectives for the development of novel adjuvant therapies against biofilm-related infections.