Endogenous Nitric Oxide Protects Bacteria Against a Wide Spectrum of Antibiotics
Open accessAbstract
It's a Gas: Many antibiotics, including beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and quinolones, kill bacteria (at least in part) by oxidative stress. Gusarov et al. (p. 1380 ) show that nitric oxide (NO) produced by bacterial NO synthases (bNOS) protects bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis , against toxic agents they may encounter in the soil or in host organisms. Thus, bNOS activity is specifically induced in response to antibiotics and, in turn, activates the expression of another key antioxidant enzyme: superoxide dismutase. Hence, NO-mediated antibiotic resistance not only operates by direct chemical modification of toxic molecules, but also alleviates oxidative stress caused by naturally occurring antibiotics.
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In bacteria, NO generated by NOS increases resistance to a broad spectrum of antibiotics.
“Gusarov et al. [15] and Shatalin et al. [20] reported that in bacteria, NO generated by NOS increases the resistance of bacteria to a broad spectrum of antibiotics.”
From Effect of Nitric Oxide on the Antifungal Activity of Oxidative Stress and Azoles Against Candida albicans (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
There have been a number of publications reporting the existence of NOS-like effect in bacteria, yeast, and plants.
“Nevertheless, there have been a number of publications reporting the existence of NOS-like effect in bacteria [15,16], yeast [17,18], and plants [19].”
From Effect of Nitric Oxide on the Antifungal Activity of Oxidative Stress and Azoles Against Candida albicans (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
Nitric oxide is protective against bactericidal antibiotic killing.
“Nitric oxide is correspondingly protective”
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- Authors
- Gusarov, I., Shatalin, K., Starodubtseva, M., & Nudler, E.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nudler, Evgeny
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2009-09-11
- Volume
- 325
- Issue
- 5946
- Pages
- 1380-1384
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC2929644
- OpenAlex
- W2015926166
- Cited by
- 417
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 15.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (DP1OD000799)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
- Keywords
- nitric oxide, antibiotic resistance, Gram-positive bacteria, oxidative stress, chemical modification of antibiotics, antimicrobial therapy, L-arginine
- MeSH terms
- Acriflavine, Antibiosis, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacteria, Cefuroxime, Mutation, Nitric Oxide, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pyocyanine, Soil Microbiology, Staphylococcus aureus, Superoxide Dismutase, Reactive Oxygen Species, Oxidative Stress, Nitric Oxide Synthase
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