Biological and Biophysical Methods for Evaluation of Inhibitors of
sortase A in Staphylococcus aureus : An Overview
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most notorious pathogens,
develops antibiotic resistance by formation of a thick layer of
exopolysaccharides known as biofilms. Sortase A, a transpeptidase
responsible for biofilm formation and attachment to the host surface,
has emerged as an important drug target for development of
anti-virulence agent. A number of sortase A inhibitors, both peptide and
non-peptides are reported which involved the use of several experiments
which may provide insights regarding binding affinity, specificity,
safety and efficacy of ligands. In this review, we focus on the
principles, pros and cons, and the type of information obtained from
biophysical (FRET assay, Microscale Thermophoresis, Surface Plasmon
resonance, CD spectroscopy etc.) and biological (Cell viability assay,
biofilm formation assay, CLSM, Western blot analysis, in vivo
characterization on mice etc.) methods for estimation of probable
sortase A inhibitors, which might be helpful to the researchers who
might be interested to delve into the development of sortase A
inhibitors as a drug, to address the burning question of Anti-microbial
Resistance (AMR).