Emory University

Published purpose

Antibiotic microbial resistance (AMR) is serious concern as bacteria have evolved to resist many of the current antibiotic drugs. Of particular concern are Gram negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii which is often the cause of outbreaks in health care settings. The Project will develop novel, “plug-and-play” biodegradable nanoparticles and bioengineered phage delivery systems for targeting bacterial cell surfaces of AMR pathogens to repurpose existing antibiotics for combating AMR. A key component of these delivery systems is the bacteriophage-based delivery system to increase the sensitivity of AMR pathogens to antibiotics, thereby repurposing the currently licensed antibiotics as a strategy to combat AMR crisis. Many bactericidal antibiotics lead to formation of hydroxyl radicals, resulting in damage to DNA, proteins and lipids and subsequent induction of the SOS response. The Project will specifically identify genes that are critical to the bacterial SOS or non-SOS responses to antibiotics and then clone those genes to bacteriophages as a way to reduce their antibiotics resistance.