Development of a new therapy

Daniel López Serrano

National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB) - Spanish National Research Council (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain

In Europe, around 33,000 people die each year as a direct result of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance, that is, the ability of bacteria to adapt and become resistant to the drugs we use to fight them, has become one of the greatest threats to global public health. If its rise is not curbed, it is expected that by 2050 the number of people dying from infections will reach about 10 million. Discovering new antibiotics effective against these micro-organisms poses a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry: research can last decades without yielding results, which discourages the investment of resources.

This project aims to provide a solution to this situation. In previous studies, the team demonstrated the existence of a previously unknown cellular process essential for bacterial survival during infections which is universal to all bacterial species. In the present project, the team will characterise this process, which takes place in cell membranes. A series of small molecules will be tested that are capable of deactivating superbugs’ resistance to conventional antibiotics, but are harmless to humans. These molecules will allow existing antibiotics to regain their activity against resistant bacteria, making it possible to bring them back into circulation without the need to develop new ones.

Characterization of bacterial lipid rafts; inhibition of antibiotic resistance using anti-raft drugs

€494,300.00