Bioactive sugars - sweet alternatives to antibiotics

在AMR时代，迫切需要抗生素的替代品来预防或治疗传染病。病原体在其细胞表面存在广泛的物种特异性碳水化合物和碳水化合物结合蛋白，这为通过饮食或新的治疗方法进行检测、预防和干预提供了新的机会。受人乳低聚糖带来的各种健康益处的启发，该项目将探索开发新的综合化学和生物化学方法来生产生物活性碳水化合物，这些方法可能会对与人类和农场动物疾病相关的细菌产生影响。在结构、微生物学和细胞生物学研究的帮助下，将进一步开发相关碳水化合物作为探针，以了解其分子作用机制。具体地说，将评估它们的作用能力：作为共生微生物的益生素；作为病原体的受体诱饵；作为宿主的免疫刺激剂。利用它们在碳水化合物生物化学和糖生物学方面的广泛和协同的专业知识，这个项目将由John Innes中心的Rob field小组和Quadram Institute Bioscience的Nathalie Juge小组联合开展。它还将涉及与工业合作伙伴Iceni Diagnostics的广泛接触，Iceni诊断公司与JIC和QIB共同位于诺维奇研究园区。

In an AMR era, alternatives to antibiotics to prevent or to treat infectious diseases are urgently needed. Pathogens present a wide range of species-specific carbohydrates and carbohydrate-binding proteins on their cell surfaces, which provide novel opportunities for detection, prevention and intervention through diet or with novel therapeutics. Inspired by the diverse health benefits associated with human milk oligosaccharides, this project will explore the development of new integrated chemical and biochemical methods for the production of bioactive carbohydrates that have potential to impact on bacteria associated with diseases of humans and farm animals. The carbohydrates concerned will be further developed as probes to understand their molecular mechanism of action, with the aid of structural, microbiological and cell biology studies. Specifically, they will be evaluated for their ability to act: as prebiotics for commensal microorganisms; as receptor decoys for pathogens; and as immune stimulants for the host.Capitalising on their extensive and synergisitic expertise in carbohydrate biochemistry and glycobiology, this project will be run jointly between Rob Field's group at the John Innes Centre and Nathalie Juge's group at Quadram Institute Bioscience. It will also will involve extensive engagement with the industrial partner, Iceni Diagnostics, which is co-located on the Norwich Research Park along with JIC and QIB.