Oxidative Stress, as a Potent Antibacterial Mechanism of Action

Dear Colleagues,

Since the first work of J.J. Collins' team published in 2007 [1], more evidence has emerged showing that bactericidal antibiotics can stimulate the production of hydroxyl radicals and trigger a cascade of common cell signaling linked to the production of oxidative stress and ultimately causing the death of bacterial cells. Conversely, bacteriostatic antibiotics are thought to use another signal transduction pathway.

Nevertheless, this model of bacterial cell death remains a matter of debate. Indeed, recent studies are rather opposed to the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the mode of action of bactericidal antibiotics [2–4], although more recent works tend to demonstrate quite clearly that ROS, at least in part, contribute to the lethality of these antibiotics [5–7].

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight recent advances in research on the oxidative stress-mediated mechanisms of action of antibiotics, antibacterials (in general), natural products, nanoparticles, etc. This Special Issue welcomes original research papers, reviews, expert opinions, etc. Particular interest will be given to studies describing the mechanism of action of molecules of interest or studies developing an analytical method capable of detecting or measuring the oxidative stress induced by antibacterials. 

1. Kohanski MA, Dwyer DJ, Hayete B, Lawrence CA, Collins JJ. A common mechanism of cellular death induced by bactericidal antibiotics. Cell. 2007 Sep 7;130(5):797-810. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2007.06.049. 
2. Keren I, Wu Y, Inocencio J, Mulcahy LR, Lewis K. Killing by bactericidal antibiotics does not depend on reactive oxygen species. Science. 2013 Mar 8;339(6124):1213-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1232688. Erratum in: Science. 2013 Jun 21;340(6139):1404. 
3. Liu Y, Imlay JA. Cell death from antibiotics without the involvement of reactive oxygen species. Science. 2013 Mar 8;339(6124):1210-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1232751. 
4. Ezraty B, Vergnes A, Banzhaf M, Duverger Y, Huguenot A, Brochado AR, Su SY, Espinosa L, Loiseau L, Py B, Typas A, Barras F. Fe-S cluster biosynthesis controls uptake of aminoglycosides in a ROS-less death pathway. Science. 2013 Jun 28;340(6140):1583-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1238328. 
5. Dwyer DJ, Belenky PA, Yang JH, MacDonald IC, Martell JD, Takahashi N, Chan CT, Lobritz MA, Braff D, Schwarz EG, Ye JD, Pati M, Vercruysse M, Ralifo PS, Allison KR, Khalil AS, Ting AY, Walker GC, Collins JJ. Antibiotics induce redox-related physiological alterations as part of their lethality. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 May 20;111(20):E2100-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1401876111. 
6. Dwyer DJ, Collins JJ, Walker GC. Unraveling the physiological complexities of antibiotic lethality. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 2015;55:313-32. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010814-124712. 
7. Drlica K, Zhao X. Bacterial death from treatment with fluoroquinolones and other lethal stressors. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2020 Nov 16:1-18. doi: 10.1080/14787210.2021.1840353.

Prof. Dr. Raphaël E. Duval
Guest Editor

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• oxidative stress
• mechanism of action
• bacterial cell death
• ROS-mediated stress
• antibiotics
• antibacterials
• new compounds
• medicinal chemistry
• natural products
• nanoparticles