Phages therapy against biofilms: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The complex heterogeneous structure of biofilms confers to bacteria an important survival strategy. Biofilms are commonly involved in the recalcitrance of many chronic infections in consequence of their low susceptibility to antibiotics and host immune system. The emergent need of novel and effective treatments to target these complex structures has led to a growing interest on phages as a strategy for biofilm control and prevention. Consequently, phage therapy against infectious biofilms is becoming a promising strategy, as suggested by the increasing number of publications demonstrating the efficacy of phages against in vitro formed biofilms. However, phage-host interactions in biofilm communities are very complex, where phages not always act as merely predators. In this talk, we will provide an overview of the main features affecting phage-biofilm interactions and will summarize some studies involving the use of phages for the treatment of bacterial biofilms, highlighting how the biofilm barriers can be tackled with phages or combined therapy approaches.