Artilysin® - Overview

Since the rise in multi-drug resistant infections seems unstoppable, alternative strategies to combat these pathogens are urgently needed.

Artilysin® is a new antimicrobial platform technology to combat bacterial pathogens in a wide range of applications. Due to the innovative platform character, it is possible to design specific Artilysin®s to target nearly every bacterial species. Even multi-drug resistant or persistent cells can be addressed by the unique mode of action.

Artilysin®s are muralytic proteins:

 

  • built from cell wall binding and enzymatically active domains
  • modified to enable passage of outer membrane
  • modified to exhibit higher affinity to bacterial cell wall
  • mutated to increase stability
  • sophisticated codon usage to ensure high expression rates

Artilysin®s represent a new class of molecules designed by the combination of endolysins with targeting peptides.

Endolysins are used by bacteriophages at the end of their replication cycle to break down the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall resulting in the release of the viral progeny. However, concerning an effective external point of action, endolysins are limited to kill Gram-positive bacteria while the protective outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria makes the endolysins ineffective.

The novel peptide moiety of Artilysin®s enable the molecules to pass the outer membrane and reach the peptidoglycan. Thus, the destabilised bacterial cell wall is not able to withstand the high osmotic pressure resulting in a fast and efficient cell lysis.

In addition, Artilysin®s have also been shown to be more effective against Gram-positive bacteria in comparison to simple endolysins.

Artilysin®s

  • exhibit a new antimicrobial mechanism.
  • have an adjustable specificity.
  • target Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
  • are active against MDR and XDR clinical strains.
  • no resistance could be provoked.
  • eliminate persistent cells.
  • are active within biofilm.
  • are quickly biodegradable (according to OECD 301 B).
  • are non-toxic and do not cause negative side effects.
  • are accepted by leading global companies.