Antibiotic resistance is a foremost public health concern worldwide. The Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance was specifically designed to be responsive to this global urgency. It has as its theme and overarching goal ?Development of new approaches for treating and preventing multidrug resistant MRSA and VRE infection.? A team of highly collaborative and productive scientists from diverse fields ? ranging from medicine to molecular genetics to biochemistry ? was recruited to this effort. The previous funding period was highly productive, with major achievements including: 1) taking novel and unique approaches to identify and develop lead compounds for inhibition of wall teichoic acid biosynthesis by S. aureus; 2) identifying and pursuing new cell wall targeting activities; 3) using a unique screening strategy to identify non-toxic compounds that target the bacterial membrane, including repurposing drugs already in use; 4) identifying features of S. aureus that are important for its ability to exist and proliferate at the site of infection; 5) developing field-leading tools for target identification; and 6) determining the characteristics of efflux pumps that impede intracellular antibiotic accumulation. To build on these successes, the team identified the most promising avenues growing out of the previous period, and designed lines of research along the shortest pathway for solving the antibiotic resistance problem. These include 1) Applying powerful new technologies in novel ways, discover what factors limit the effectiveness of existing antibiotics; 2) Using new approaches to drug discovery that take advantage of novel screens developed in the initial period, and advance the top leads; and 3) Developing new paradigms for patient management that reduce the probability of development of highly antibiotic resistant infection. The above aims will be achieved by 4 subprojects functioning collaboratively as an interactive network that capitalizes on and maximizes the use of all program assets. As projects have grown together, synergy has stemmed from both intellectual and material contributions. Fiscal and functional management will be overseen by an experienced Administrative Core, which also serves to promote data sharing and connect the project to the greater academic and pharmaceutical communities through organizing the annual BAARN meeting and other activities.

Public Health Relevance

Antibiotic resistance is a foremost public health concern worldwide. The Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance, which has as its goal to develop new approaches for treating and preventing multidrug resistant MRSA and VRE infection, was specifically designed to be responsive to this global urgency. A highly productive multidisciplinary team will function collaboratively to capitalize on many advances it has already made to achieve this goal.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
2P01AI083214-09
Application #
9151284
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1)
Program Officer
Huntley, Clayton C
Project Start
2009-09-01
Project End
2021-08-31
Budget Start
2016-09-01
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Department
Type
DUNS #
073825945
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
Zheng, Zhaojun; Liu, Qingzhong; Kim, Wooseong et al. (2018) Antimicrobial activity of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives against planktonic cells and biofilm of Staphylococcus aureus. Future Med Chem 10:283-296
Kim, Wooseong; Zhu, Wenpeng; Hendricks, Gabriel Lambert et al. (2018) A new class of synthetic retinoid antibiotics effective against bacterial persisters. Nature 556:103-107
Vickery, Christopher R; Wood, B McKay; Morris, Heidi G et al. (2018) Reconstitution of Staphylococcus aureus Lipoteichoic Acid Synthase Activity Identifies Congo Red as a Selective Inhibitor. J Am Chem Soc 140:876-879
Jagadeesan, Sakthimala; Hakkim, Abdul (2018) Plate Design for and Cherry Picking of Bacterial RNAi Clones for Systematic Error Detection in High-Throughput Caenorhabditis elegans RNAi Screens. Curr Protoc Mol Biol 124:e70
Johnston, Tatiana; Van Tyne, Daria; Chen, Roy F et al. (2018) Propyl-5-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbodithioate (HMPC): a new bacteriostatic agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Sci Rep 8:7062
Bispo, Paulo J M; Davoudi, Samaneh; Sahm, Matthew L et al. (2018) Rapid Detection and Identification of Uveitis Pathogens by Qualitative Multiplex Real-Time PCR. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 59:582-589
Lieberman, Mia T; Van Tyne, Daria; Dzink-Fox, JoAnn et al. (2018) Long-Term Colonization Dynamics of Enterococcus faecalis in Implanted Devices in Research Macaques. Appl Environ Microbiol 84:
Kim, Wooseong; Hendricks, Gabriel L; Tori, Katerina et al. (2018) Strategies against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus persisters. Future Med Chem 10:779-794
Tharmalingam, Nagendran; Port, Jenna; Castillo, Dawilmer et al. (2018) Repurposing the anthelmintic drug niclosamide to combat Helicobacter pylori. Sci Rep 8:3701
Liu, Qingzhong; Zheng, Zhaojun; Kim, Wooseong et al. (2018) Influence of subinhibitory concentrations of NH125 on biofilm formation & virulence factors of Staphylococcus aureus. Future Med Chem 10:1319-1331

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