%0 Journal Article
%T Siderophore-drug complexes: potential medicinal applications of the 'Trojan horse' strategy.
%A Górska A
%A Sloderbach A
%A Marszałł MP
%J Trends Pharmacol Sci
%V 35
%N 9
%D Sep 2014
%M 25108321
%F 17.638
%R 10.1016/j.tips.2014.06.007
%X The ability of bacteria to develop resistance to antimicrobial agents poses problems in the treatment of numerous bacterial infections. One method to circumvent permeability-mediated drug resistance involves the employment of the 'Trojan horse' strategy. The Trojan horse concept involves the use of bacterial iron uptake systems to enter and kill bacteria. The siderophore-drug complex is recognized by specific siderophore receptors and is then actively transported across the outer membrane. The recently identified benefits of this strategy have led to the synthesis of a series of siderophore-based antibiotics. Several studies have shown that siderophore-drug conjugates make it possible to design antibiotics with improved cell transport and reduce the frequency of resistance mutants. Growing interest in siderophore-drug conjugates for the treatment of human diseases including iron overload, cancer, and malaria has driven the search for new siderophore-drug complexes. This strategy may have special importance for the development of iron oxide nanoparticle-based therapeutics.