Developing a multi-species biofilm model for testing novel antimicrobials

今天，比以往任何时候都更需要新的抗生素替代品来控制传染病，一种重要的病原体正变得越来越具抗药性。微生物也可以以不同的方式生长，这使得它们天生就很难根除。生物膜是一种生长模式，单个细胞聚集在一起，并嵌入到具有抵抗力和保护性的细胞外基质中。许多牲畜和人类传染性疾病可以被认为是与生物膜有关的，而且通常不同的微生物可以是同一生物膜的一部分。在之前的NSERC Engage赠款中，我们与SterileCare Inc.合作，SterileCare Inc.是一家加拿大生物技术公司，开发了一种新的抗菌剂。在目前的项目中，我们建议开发更接近自然条件的多物种生物膜模型。现代细菌标记技术将被用来可视化和计数生物膜，我们将测试无菌护理产品的杀菌能力，无论是单独使用还是与其他非抗生素治疗联合使用。我们将探索产品的作用机制，并努力确定有助于改善公司知识产权的治疗条件。SterileCare Inc.希望进一步开发一种强大的药物，用于治疗与生物膜和多重耐药微生物相关的人类和兽医疾病，这与全球抗生素管理努力是一致的。

Today more than ever before, new alternatives to antibiotics are needed to control infectious diseases, asimportant pathogens are becoming increasingly resistant. Microorganisms can also grow in different ways thatmakes them inherently tough to eradicate. Biofilms are a mode of growth where individual cells aggregate andbecome embedded in a resistant and protective extracellular matrix. Many livestock and human infectiousdiseases can be thought of as biofilm-related and often different microorganisms can be part of the samebiofilm. In a previous NSERC Engage grant, we worked with SterileCare Inc., a Canadian biotechnologycompany that has developed a new antimicrobial agent. In the current project, we are proposing to develop amulti-species biofilm model that more closely approximates natural conditions. Modern bacterial taggingtechnology will be used to visualize and enumerate the biofilms, and we will test the killing ability of theSterile Care product either administered alone or in concert with other non-antibiotic treatments. We willexplore the mechanisms of action of the products and work to identify treatment conditions that will lead toimproved intellectual property for the company. SterileCare Inc. hopes to further develop a powerful agent totreat both human and veterinary conditions associated with biofilms and multidrug resistant microorganisms,which falls in line with global Antibiotic Stewardship efforts.