Figure 2.

Examples of bacterial virulence pathways that have been targeted for antimicrobial development. Bacterial adhesion to the host cell; 1. Inhibitors of pili biosynthetic machineries (e.g. chaperone/usher pathway); 2. Inhibitors of the carbohydrate-binding sites in the adhesin molecules. Bacterial secretion systems; 3. Inhibitors of the type three secretion system (TTSS) to block injection of effector proteins to the host cell. Toxin production; 4. Toxin neutralization to inhibit damage to the host. Acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) mediated quorum sensing (QS): 5. Inhibitors of AHL synthase LuxI. 6. AHL degrading enzymes (e.g. lactonase and acylase). 7. Inhibitors of AHL binding to transcriptional regulator LuxR