Addressing MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections by enhanced antibiotic uptake

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Approximately 9% of people in UK acute care hospitals contract infection within the hospital and in approximately 3% of these patients the infection will either directly cause or be a contributing factor to death. Many of the bacteria causing infection are resistant to several of the major classes of antibiotic available for therapy. One particular class of bacteria, MDR Gram-negatives, has developed resistance to the stage that there are few if any viable options for treatment. New antibiotics for this class are urgently needed.The technical barrier to treatment of this class of bacteria is an outer membrane across which many antibiotics cannot cross and behind this a compartment full of enzymes which degrade antibiotics and pumps which pump them back out of the cell. This project explores new technologies for promoting the uptake of antibiotics across this membrane in order to enhance efficacy.