SGD Paper Help  Romero D, et al.  (2013) Biofilm inhibitors that
target amyloid proteins. Chem Biol 20(1):102-10  Abstract:
Bacteria establish stable communities, known as biofilms, that
are resistant to antimicrobials. Biofilm robustness is due to
the presence of an extracellular matrix, which for several
species-among them Bacillus subtilis-includes amyloid-like
protein fibers. In this work, we show that B. subtilis biofilms
can be a simple and reliable tool for screening of molecules
with antiamyloid activity. We identified two molecules, AA-861
and parthenolide, which efficiently inhibited biofilms by
preventing the formation of amyloid-like fibers. Parthenolide
also disrupted pre-established biofilms. These molecules also
impeded the formation of biofilms of other bacterial species
that secrete amyloid proteins, such as Bacillus cereus and
Escherichia coli. Furthermore, the identified molecules
decreased the conversion of the yeast protein New1 to the prion
state in a heterologous host, indicating the br