Partnership against Biofilm-associated Expression, Acquisition and Transmission of AMR

微生物学的一个相对较新的进展是发现大多数感染是由细菌生物膜引起的。生物膜是在表面上发现的细菌的结构化群落，这些细菌嵌入到自己产生的细胞外聚合物基质中。生物膜可以形成在组织上或生物医学表面，如血液导管或植入物，在这些地方，它们是潜在的与医疗保健相关的感染的蓄水池。与浮游细菌相比，生活在生物膜中的细菌可以耐受更高的抗生素浓度，并存活足够长的时间来形成抗菌素耐药性(AMR)。它们形成持续的、难以治疗的感染，并表现出促进AMR发展和传播的内在生物学。我们联盟的目标是确定细菌在覆盖有抗菌剂的表面形成生物膜时如何适应抗菌素，AMR突变是如何在成熟的生物膜内获得和进化的，以及生物膜内的种群动态如何影响AMR的传播。我们提出的假设是，了解生物膜对AMR获得和传播的贡献将导致开发新的抗微生物策略和医疗设备，这些策略和医疗设备在预防生物膜相关感染和AMR方面更有效。我们的团队为实验医学和转化医学提供设施和临床研究治理。我们将欧洲各地领先的实验室、临床和转化研究结合在一起，将确保开发新的、成功的干预措施和治疗结果的最佳机会。

A relatively recent advance in microbiology is the finding that the majority of infections are caused by bacterial biofilms. Biofilms are structured communities of bacteria found on surfaces that become embedded within a self-produced extracellular polymeric matrix. Biofilms can form on tissues or on biomedical surfaces, such as blood catheters or implants, where they act as a reservoir of potential healthcare-associated infection. Bacteria living in biofilms can tolerate much higher antibiotic concentrations compared to planktonic bacteria and survive long enough to evolve antimicrobial resistance (AMR). They form persistent, hard-to-treat infections and exhibit an intrinsic biology that promotes the development and transmission of AMR. The goal of our consortium is to determine how bacteria adapt to antimicrobials during biofilm formation on surfaces coated with antimicrobials, how AMR mutations are acquired and evolve within mature biofilms, and how population dynamics within biofilms affect the transmission of AMR. We address the hypothesis that understanding the contribution of biofilms to AMR acquisition and spread will lead to the development of novelantimicrobial strategies and medical devices that are more effective in preventing biofilm-associated infection and AMR. Our team provides facilities and clinical research governance for experimental and translational medicine. Our synergy of leading laboratory, clinical and translational research across Europe will ensure the best chance to develop novel and successful interventions and therapeutic outcomes.