Novel Molecular Tools to Tackle the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Emergency

Project Description

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most urgent scientific, medical, and societal challenges. AMR is predicted to result, globally, in >10 million deaths per year and >100 trillion USD in lost economic output by 2050, if no immediate action is taken. AMR arises when microorganisms that cause infection (e.g. bacteria) survive exposure to a medicine (e.g., an antibiotic) that would normally kill them or stop their growth. To tackle the AMR emergency, the development of new therapeutic approaches is an urgent priority.
We will develop novel molecular tools to study the role of bacterial glycans for AMR and establish new antibiotic strategies. Glycans are a class of biomacromolecules that are central to many aspects of bacterial pathogenicity. To elucidate the precise role of specific glycans for AMR, we will develop small molecular inhibitors of bacterial glycan biosynthesis that can be used, uniquely, in wild-type, clinical pathogens, and universally with different bacteria. We will use these inhibitors as novel tools to study mechanisms of intrinsic and adaptive resistance in three critical clinical pathogens, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Burkholderia.

Project Partner

UK Health Security Agency