Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Southern Maine Community College
Faculty Mentor
Daniel Moore, PhD
Abstract
Phage therapy is the use of viruses to treat bacterial infections. This therapeutic method offers a viable solution to antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria. In this review, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of phage therapy. Phages attack specific hosts, making them more narrow-spectrum than antibiotics. Adding genes for infection-fighting peptides to the genome may improve the effectiveness of phage therapy. Antimicrobial regulator peptide IDR-1018 is involved in modulation of the immune system. A research group has shown that incorporating a gene for IDR-1018 into phage T7 significantly increased the bactericidal effects in Escherichia coli. In another study, phage lysin PlyF307, a peptide that lyses bacterial cells, resulted in an increased ability to eliminate biofilm when added to a genome of Acinetobacter baumannii strain 1791. Researchers observed promising results in a mice study with this modified phage. Studies done both in vivo and in vitro have shown that phage can be modified to enhance their ability for use in phage therapy. Further research has addressed the weaknesses of phage therapy. While specificity is a limitation, so is bacterial resistance rate. Bacteria, highly equipped organisms, have shown resistance to particular phages. Through modification of the phage genome, we can decrease the frequency of bacterial resistance while increasing bactericidal activity. These studies suggest there may be ways to modify phages to overcome the limitations of host range and host resistance.
Open Access?
1
Combatting Antibacterial Resistance With Phage Therapy
Phage therapy is the use of viruses to treat bacterial infections. This therapeutic method offers a viable solution to antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria. In this review, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of phage therapy. Phages attack specific hosts, making them more narrow-spectrum than antibiotics. Adding genes for infection-fighting peptides to the genome may improve the effectiveness of phage therapy. Antimicrobial regulator peptide IDR-1018 is involved in modulation of the immune system. A research group has shown that incorporating a gene for IDR-1018 into phage T7 significantly increased the bactericidal effects in Escherichia coli. In another study, phage lysin PlyF307, a peptide that lyses bacterial cells, resulted in an increased ability to eliminate biofilm when added to a genome of Acinetobacter baumannii strain 1791. Researchers observed promising results in a mice study with this modified phage. Studies done both in vivo and in vitro have shown that phage can be modified to enhance their ability for use in phage therapy. Further research has addressed the weaknesses of phage therapy. While specificity is a limitation, so is bacterial resistance rate. Bacteria, highly equipped organisms, have shown resistance to particular phages. Through modification of the phage genome, we can decrease the frequency of bacterial resistance while increasing bactericidal activity. These studies suggest there may be ways to modify phages to overcome the limitations of host range and host resistance.
