A view to a kill. Using cutting edge microscopy to study predatory bacteria

杀人的看法。

• 批准号: 2106562
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of York
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2106562
• 关键词: view; kill.; Using; cutting; edge

Antibiotic resistance is receiving increasing attention, and the EPSRC highlight the need to draw on engineering and physical sciences capabilities in order to accelerate therapeutic and diagnostic development to counter this phenomenon. A radical new therapy involves the clinical application of (non-pathogenic) predatory bacteria that can rapidly destroy their pathogenic relatives, including multi-antibiotic resistant strains impervious to other treatments. This project will use cutting-edge optical microscopy to find out how the predators locate their prey, and how they attach to and enter the prey cells. The longer-term goal, beyond this project, is to develop new therapeutic interventions. To collect relevant experimental data, the student will develop and improve optical microscopy methods, including high-speed holographic microscopy and TIRF microscopy. Bacteria are thought to undergo a Brownian random walk in order to search out nutrients in the wild. The data analysis section of the project will draw on this statistical physics framework to assess whether the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus follows a similar paradigm, and if so, how it modifies its behaviour in the presence of prey organisms.This project fits the EPSRC theme of healthcare technologies, the cross-council initiative on anti-microbial resistance, and the EPSRC grand challenge of 'Understanding the Physics of Life'. The project will involve digital signal processing and will develop imaging/analysis tools that are also applicable to synthetic biology. The latter in particular is highlighted for growth in EPSRC's portfolio.

抗生素耐药性正受到越来越多的关注，EPSRC强调需要利用工程和物理科学能力，以加速治疗和诊断的发展，以应对这一现象。一种激进的新疗法涉及（非致病性）掠食性细菌的临床应用，这种细菌可以迅速摧毁其致病亲属，包括对其他治疗不敏感的多重抗生素耐药菌株。这个项目将使用尖端的光学显微镜来发现捕食者是如何定位猎物的，以及它们是如何附着并进入猎物细胞的。在这个项目之外，长期目标是开发新的治疗干预措施。为了收集相关的实验数据，学生将开发和改进光学显微镜方法，包括高速全息显微镜和TIRF显微镜。细菌被认为经历了布朗随机漫步，以便在野外寻找营养物质。该项目的数据分析部分将利用这一统计物理框架来评估掠食性细菌Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus是否遵循类似的范式，如果是，它如何在猎物生物存在时改变其行为。该项目符合EPSRC医疗技术的主题，抗微生物耐药性的跨委员会倡议，以及EPSRC“理解生命物理学”的重大挑战。该项目将涉及数字信号处理，并将开发同样适用于合成生物学的成像/分析工具。后者尤其突出了EPSRC投资组合的增长。