Engineering of Recombinant Endolysin LysSi3 to Increase its Antibacterial Properties

Abstract The potential of new genetically modified recombinant endolysins as antimicrobial agents against Gram-negative bacteria was investigated. A series of enzymes based on LysSi3 lysozyme-like muramidase was obtained by modifying its sequence with antimicrobial peptides of different families, and recombinant expression in E. coli was demonstrated. Modification of LysSi3 resulted in increased bacteriolytic activity against the model isolate of A. baumannii and a higher kinetics rate compared to the native enzyme. The cytotoxic properties of the newly engineered lysins were investigated with the HEK293 and HaCaT cell lines, and it was shown that modification of LysSi3 with antimicrobial peptides does not significantly increase the toxic properties in vitro.