Bacterial biofilms are highly resistant to the action of antibiotics. Presence of persisters, phenotypically resistant populations of bacterial cells, is thought to contribute toward recalcitrance of biofilms. The phage-derived lysins, by virtue of their ability to cleave the peptidoglycan of bacterial cells in an enzymatic manner, have the unique ability to kill dormant cells. Several lysins have shown potent antibiofilm activity in vitro. The fact that lysins have shown better efficacy than conventional drugs in animal models of endocarditis and other infections involving biofilms suggests that the lysins can potentially be developed against difficult-to-treat bacterial infections.

细菌生物膜对抗生素的作用具有高度抗性。持久性的存在，即细菌细胞的表型抗性种群，被认为有助于生物膜的顽固抵抗。噬菌体来源的溶菌素凭借其以酶促方式裂解细菌细胞的肽聚糖的能力，具有杀死休眠细胞的独特能力。几种溶菌素在体外表现出强大的抗生物膜活性。在心内膜炎和其他涉及生物膜的感染的动物模型中，溶血素显示出比常规药物更好的功效这一事实表明，溶血素可以潜在地针对难于治疗的细菌感染而发展。