Targeting intracellular bacteria with antimicrobial virus-like particles: a case study with a single-cell resolution  

Session

Stream 6 (Frontiers): Correlative Imaging of Organelle Organization and Architecture

Authors

Dr Stephanie Rey (1), Mrs Nilofar Faruqui (1), Dr Alex Hoose (1), Miss Camilla Dondi (1), Dr Maxim G Ryadnov (1)

Affiliations

1. National Physical Laboratory

Keywords

Electron microscopy, ultramicrotomy, antimicrobial peptides, intracellular bacteria

Abstract text

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria stimulates the search for antimicrobial materials capable of addressing challenges conventional antibiotics fail to address. The ability to target intracellular bacteria remains one of the most fundamental tasks for contemporary antimicrobial treatments. Here we highlight our recent progress in demonstrating this ability for engineered protein virus-like particles targeting bacteria, which are internalised in macrophages. Using single-cell electron microscopy analysis we show that these materials effectively disrupt the bacteria without affecting the host cells. 

With better antibiotics inevitably leading to fitter intracellular pathogens, there is a pressing need for antimicrobial materials that may support mechanisms which are different from those of antibiotics. This study entails a promising discovery strategy by probing a principally more challenging strategy for bacteria to overcome – antibacterial virus-like forms that destroy bacteria on contact.

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