Bacterial nuclease

Bacterial nucleases are a diverse class of enzymes, including deoxyribonucleases (DNases) and ribonucleases (RNases), that play critical roles in the survival and pathogenicity of bacterial species [1, 5]. These enzymes are involved in essential intracellular processes such as DNA replication, repair, and recombination, as well as the acquisition of nutrients through the scavenging of environmental nucleotides [1, 8]. Many pathogenic bacteria, notably Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, secrete extracellular nucleases as virulence factors to degrade the DNA matrix of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), allowing the pathogen to evade the host’s innate immune system [3, 8, 10]. Additionally, these enzymes modulate the structural integrity of biofilms by cleaving extracellular DNA (eDNA), which facilitates biofilm formation, dispersal, or remodeling [1, 13]. Targeting these nucleases with small-molecule inhibitors, such as benzimidazole-based ligands, is a promising anti-virulence strategy intended to restore host immune clearance and increase bacterial susceptibility to traditional antibiotics without exerting the high selective pressure of bactericidal agents [3, 12]. Furthermore, bacterial nuclease activity is increasingly utilized as a diagnostic biomarker for identifying specific bacterial infections and monitoring therapeutic efficacy [5, 11].

Other names

Micrococcal nucleaseStaphylococcal nucleaseThermonucleaseBacterial deoxyribonucleaseBacterial ribonucleaseExtracellular nucleaseEndonucleaseExonuclease

Inhibition of nuclease-mediated hydrolysis of nucleic acids to restore host neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) function and impair biofilm stability [3, 8].