Using a bacterial disease found in the tropics,
Dstl
scientist Adam Taylor has been working with Burkholderia
pseudomallei, a bacterium that causes the disease
melioidosis. This disease currently kills almost 90,000 and
infects an estimated 165,000 people every year, symptoms
including abscesses and pneumonia are common. Treatment of
this disease is complex and lengthy; the bacterium is
resistant to several antibiotic therapies.
The research is in two parts: phase 1 is researching how
well existing antibiotics work, and phase 2 is improving
the effectiveness of these antibiotics by specifically
targeting them to infected immune cells using antibodies.
This approach has the potential to reduce side effects,
increase antibiotic effectiveness, increase specificity and
reduce overall antibiotic use during therapy.
Adam Taylor said:
This work is absolutely crucial, we all know that
antibiotic resistance is increasing all the time and the
amount of new antibiotics cannot keep up with the pace of
bacteria becoming resistant, so the global urgency is on
to find new ways of treating antibacterial diseases.
I am among only a few scientists currently carrying out
this research with this particular disease and I’ve
already seen some really promising results. During the
studies, I have captured data that shows we can improve
how well the existing antibiotics used to treat this
disease perform by linking them to an antibody.
It is thanks to the world-class facilities at the
Dstl
Porton Down site that Adam is able to carry out his
research. The bacterium is extremely hazardous, however
Dstl’s
state-of-the-art high containment facility and its cutting
edge equipment ensure this work can be carried out.
The research requires specialist imaging equipment and
techniques. For example, a confocal microscope can be used
to look inside the cells of the immune system, and by using
florescent macrophage cells to simulate a bacterial
infection the researcher can see what is happening inside
the cells more easily.
Adam added:
It’s really exciting when you see positive results,
sometimes you don’t believe what you’ve seen, so you do
the test again, but it’s a really good feeling when you
have discovered something that could really make a
difference.
Adam’s PhD research is sponsored by the London School of
Tropical Medicine, with initial results from the study
expected for release in 2021.
