Adaptable surfaces for sensing, inhibition and fundamental studies of bacterial adhesion

The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a rapidly growing clinical problem and a global threat to human health.

These strains survive exposure to antibiotic and may cause chronic infections transforming once treatable diseases to become life threatening. An urgent need for drugs exploiting alternative biomedical pathways has therefore emerged.

One such strategy aims to prevent the primary bacterial attachments to the host cell or extracellular matrix using multivalent inhibitors. Drug design issues and knowledge gaps with respect to the bacterial adhesion mechanism hamper these efforts.

Cell membrane mimetic reversible self-assembled monolayers (rSAMs) are easy to make multivalent receptors that addresses both of these issues.

In this project, we will use these models to engineer high affinity bacteria specific surfaces, inhibitors and sensors while addressing basic questions related to biofilm microbiology.

The key aims are:To develop rSAMs tailored to bind and recognize bacteria with high affinityTo elucidate bacterial adhesion mechanismsTo develop rSAM-nanoparticles for bacterial inhibition or killingTo investigate rSAMs in combination with remote wire-less sensing of bacteria.

Leading experts in chemistry, nanomedicine and microbiology at Malmö University (MaU) and Aarhus University (AU) will ensure a successful realization of these aims.