Eagle Effect in Nonreplicating Persister Mycobacteria #MMPMID26349831
Wu ML; Tan J; Dick T
Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015[Dec]; 59 (12): 7786-9 PMID26349831show ga
We determined the microbicidal activities of antibacterials against nonreplicating Mycobacterium smegmatis grown in a starvation-based Loebel model for persistence. Whereas most drugs lost their activity, fluoroquinolones retained lethal potency. Dose-response characterizations showed a paradoxical more-drug-kills-less Eagle effect. Pretreatment of cultures with chloramphenicol blocked the lethal action of the gyrase inhibitors. These results suggest that fluoroquinolones at low concentrations trigger a protein synthesis-dependent cell death pathway and shut off this suicide pathway at elevated concentrations.