RNA-cleaving DNAzymes as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent against antimicrobial resistant bacteria

• Published in: Current genetics Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 27 - 38
• Main Authors: Wong, Bao Chi, Abu Bakar, Juwaini, Dhanoa, Amreeta, Tan, Hock Siew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-02-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; Bacteria; Bacteria - genetics; Bacterial diseases; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Chemical compounds; Diagnostic software; DNA, Catalytic - pharmacology; Drug Resistance, Bacterial - genetics; Genes; Life Sciences; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Nucleic acids; Pharmacology; Plant Sciences; Proteomics; Review; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Therapeutic applications; Diagnostic agents; Therapeutic agents; Antimicrobial resistance; DNAzymes
• ISSN: 0172-8083; 1432-0983
• DOI: 10.1007/s00294-021-01212-0

The development of nucleic-acid-based antimicrobials such as RNA-cleaving DNAzyme (RCD), a short catalytically active nucleic acid, is a promising alternative to the current antibiotics. The current rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria renders some antibiotics useless against bacterial infection, thus creating the need for alternative antimicrobials such as DNAzymes. This review summarizes recent advances in the use of RCD as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent against AMR. Firstly, the recent diagnostic application of RCD for the detection of bacterial cells and the associated resistant gene(s) is discussed. The next section summarises the therapeutic application of RCD in AMR bacterial infections which includes direct targeting of the resistant genes and indirect targeting of AMR-associated genes. Finally, this review extends the discussion to challenges of utilizing RCD in real-life applications, and the potential of combining both diagnostic and therapeutic applications of RCD into a single agent as a theranostic agent.