Antibiotic Action in Bacterium-Infected Cells and Tissues

Antibiotic Action in Bacterium-Infected Cells and Tissues

Antibiotic susceptibility is typically assessed by growing bacterial isolates on agar plates or in rich broth supplemented with different concentrations of antibiotics. Such tests provide valuable estimates, but poorly resemble the actual condition of infected human tissue. In a patient, both bacteria and antibiotics are lodged within different tissue compartments, presumably influencing the success or failure of therapy. To gain insights into antibiotic efficacy and the impact of the host tissue context on the outcome of the antibiotic treatment, we will exploit tissue culture approaches to reconstruct bacterium – host cell – antibiotic interplay outside of the body at different levels of complexity.

Mining of the Gut Microbiota for New Anti-Infectives

Infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria are rapidly increasing while very few new drugs make it to the market. To meet the increasing threat of antibiotic resistance, alternative anti-infective agents need to be considered. The intestinal lumen is home to a rich ecosystem of commensal microbes and soluble factors which serve as a first line defense against pathogen colonization. Therefore, this naturally occurring protective niche provides a resource in the hunt for new anti-infectives. We will use our tissue culture infection models to uncover novel anti-infective activities from the human gut microbiota and investigate how they interact with established antibiotics.