{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T16:51:14Z","timestamp":1767891074821,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]],"date-time":"2022-11-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1667520000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing several chronic infections resistant to currently available antibiotics. Its pathogenicity is related to the production of different virulence factors such as biofilm and protease secretion. Pseudomonas communities can persist in biofilms that protect bacterial cells from antibiotics. Hence, there is a need for innovative approaches that are able to counteract these virulence factors, which play a pivotal role, especially in chronic infections. In this context, antimicrobial peptides are emerging drugs showing a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. Here, we tested the anti-virulence activity of a chionodracine-derived peptide (KHS-Cnd) on five P. aeruginosa clinical isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. We demonstrated that KHS-Cnd impaired biofilm development and caused biofilm disaggregation without affecting bacterial viability in nearly all of the tested strains. Ultrastructural morphological analysis showed that the effect of KHS-Cnd on biofilm could be related to a different compactness of the matrix. KHS-Cnd was also able to reduce adhesion to pulmonary cell lines and to impair the invasion of host cells by P. aeruginosa. A cytotoxic effect of KHS-Cnd was observed only at the highest tested concentration. This study highlights the potential of KHS-Cnd as an anti-biofilm and anti-virulence molecule against P. aeruginosa clinical strains.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms232113494","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]],"date-time":"2022-11-04T03:28:10Z","timestamp":1667532490000},"page":"13494","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Anti-Virulence Potential of a Chionodracine-Derived Peptide against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clinical Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Marco","family":"Artini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University, p.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3054-7504","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Esther","family":"Imperlini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8045-5651","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Buonocore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3805-9505","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michela","family":"Relucenti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Alfonso Borelli 50, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3209-0074","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fernando","family":"Porcelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4544-8928","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Orlando","family":"Donfrancesco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Alfonso Borelli 50, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vanessa","family":"Tuccio Guarna Assanti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Diagnostical and Management Innovations, Children\u2019s Hospital and Institute Research Bambino Ges\u00f9, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4156-1835","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ersilia Vita","family":"Fiscarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Diagnostical and Management Innovations, Children\u2019s Hospital and Institute Research Bambino Ges\u00f9, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0330-2883","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosanna","family":"Papa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University, p.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Selan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University, p.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2019.00539","article-title":"Emerging Strategies to Combat ESKAPE Pathogens in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Review","volume":"10","author":"Mulani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. 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