Resistance in gram-positive bacteria

Didier Cabanes

i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Antibiotic resistance is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. In this context, gram-positive bacteria such as staphylococci, enterococci or streptococci pose a serious threat to public health. While antibiotics are able to eliminate some microorganisms, paradoxically they also contribute to the apparition of resistant bacteria that can then proliferate without competitors. This is coupled with the stagnation of new antibiotic development.

For these reasons and also to preserve the human microbiota, which is essential for health, alternative therapeutic approaches to antibiotics are now being considered. They might, for example, aim to deactivate the virulence of the microorganisms, or to “re-sensitise” resistant bacteria so that they become susceptible to available antibiotics again.

In previous studies, the project team has been able to demonstrate that specific sugar polymers present in the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria are not only crucial for bacterial pathogenicity but also for their resistance to host defences and antibiotics. In the current project, researchers will focus on deciphering the molecular mechanisms involved to develop new drugs that by inhibiting cell wall sugar decoration will simultaneously reduce the pathogenic capacity of bacteria and make them more susceptible to both the host’s immune system and the action of antibiotics.

Blocking bacterial glycosyltransferases to circumvent antibiotic resistance

€449,950.00

*Project awarded in collaboration with the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnología