The impact of bacteriophages on bacterial pathogenicity

Mogućnost bakterija da uzrokuju bolest (patogenost) često ovisi o bakteriofagima (fagima). Fagi mogu nositi gene za proteine koje, kad se fag ugradi u bakteriju, može sintetizirati stanična mašinerija bakterije i koji joj mogu biti korisni ili čak neophodni u nekom od koraka patogeneze (primanje za domaćina, mijenjanje signalnih puteva i citoskeleta domaćina, preživljavanje imunosnog odgovora). Osim proteinskih produkata kodiranih genima faga, u patogenezi bakterija mogu sudjelovati i cijele čestice faga, modulirajući imunosni odgovor domaćina ili propagirajući nastajanje stabilnih biofilmova. U slučaju bolesti uzrokovanih bakterijama otpornim na antimikrobna sredstva ili bolesti koje se ne mogu kontrolirati antimikrobnim sredstvima, a koje ovise o genima ili česticama faga, fag može biti dobra meta terapije.Bacterial pathogenicity, the ability of bacteria to cause disease, is often dependent on bacteriophages (phages). Phages can carry genes that code for proteins that can be synthetized by the bacterial cell machinery upon integration of the phage into the genome and can be of use or even essential during pathogenesis (for host-adhesion, altering signalling pathways and host cytoskeleton, immune response-survival etc.). As well as phage-encoded-proteins, phage particles can also contribute to pathogenesis, by modulating the immune response or promoting biofilm assembly and stability. Phages can be a good therapy target, in diseases that depend on phage genes or particles, if antimicrobial therapy is not possible due to antimicrobial resistance or the specifics of the disease