Practice increases phage potency on evolutionary battlefield with deadly bacteria – sciencedaily

Bacteriophages, or “phages”, have become a new source of hope against growing resistance to antibiotics. Ignored for decades by Western science, phages have become the focus of increasing research attention due to their ability to infect and kill bacterial threats.

A new project led by Joshua Borin, a graduate student in biological sciences at the University of California at San Diego, a member of the laboratory of Associate Professor Justin Meyer, has proven that phages that undergo special evolutionary training increase their ability to subdue bacteria . Like a boxer in training before a title fight, pre-trained phages have been shown to delay the onset of bacterial resistance.

The study, which included contributions from researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel and the University of Texas at Austin, is published on June 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Antibiotic resistance is inherently an evolving problem, so this article describes a possible new solution as we run out of antibiotic options,” Borin said. “Using bacterial viruses that are able to adapt and evolve into the host bacteria that we want them to infect and kill is an old idea that’s being reborn. It’s the idea that the enemy of our enemy is our friend. “

The idea of ​​using phages to fight bacterial infections dates back to the days before WWII. But while antibiotic drugs have become the main treatment for bacterial infections, phage research for therapeutic potential has been largely forgotten. This mindset has changed in recent years as deadly bacteria continue to evolve and render many modern drugs ineffective.

Borin’s project was designed to train specialized phages to fight bacteria before they encounter their ultimate bacterial target. The study, conducted in lab flasks, demonstrated the classic evolutionary and adaptation mechanisms at play. The bacteria, Meyer said, moved in predictable ways to counter the phage attack. The difference was in the preparation. The study showed that phages trained for 28 days were able to kill bacteria 1,000 times more efficiently and three to eight times longer than phages that were not trained.

“The trained phage had already experimented with ways the bacteria would try to dodge it,” Meyer said. “He had ‘learned’ in a genetic sense. He had already developed mutations to help him counter the movements the bacteria were taking. We use the phage’s own improvement algorithm, evolution by natural selection, to track down its therapeutic potential and solve the problem of bacteria developing resistance to other therapy. “

The researchers are now expanding their findings to research the performance of pre-trained phages on clinically important bacteria, such as E. coli. They also endeavor to assess how well training methods work on animal models.

UC San Diego is a leader in phage research and clinical applications. In 2018, the university’s medical school established the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, the first dedicated phage therapy center in North America.

“We have prioritized antibiotics since they were first developed and now that they are becoming less and less useful, people are turning to phages for use as therapy,” Meyer said. “More of us are considering conducting the experiments necessary to understand the types of procedures and processes that can improve phage therapy.”

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Materials provided by University of California – San Diego. Original written by Mario Aguilera. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.