Our ability to control the growth of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens is challenged by rising antimicrobial resistance and requires new approaches. Endolysins are phage-derived enzymes that degrade peptidoglycan and therefore offer potential as antimicrobial agents. However, the outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria impedes the access of externally applied endolysins to peptidoglycan. This review highlights recent advances in the discovery and characterization of natural endolysins that can breach the OM, as well as chemical and engineering approaches that increase antimicrobial efficacy of endolysins against Gram-negative pathogens.

中文翻译：

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革兰氏阴性细胞内溶素：克服外膜障碍

我们控制革兰氏阴性细菌病原体生长的能力受到抗菌素耐药性上升的挑战，需要新的方法。内溶素是噬菌体衍生的酶，可降解肽聚糖，因此具有作为抗菌剂的潜力。然而，革兰氏阴性细菌的外膜（OM）阻碍了外部应用的细胞内溶素进入肽聚糖。本综述重点介绍了可破坏 OM 的天然细胞内溶素的发现和表征的最新进展，以及提高细胞内溶素对革兰氏阴性病原体抗菌功效的化学和工程方法。