Antimicrobial resistance evolution: Antimicrobial peptides and the merit of in vitro data

jens rolff

Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

jens.rolff@fu-berlin.de

Link to onsite registration: https://duo.dr13.cnrs.fr/public/evenement/index

Link to seminar: TBA

The evolution of antimicrobial resistance is a major health challenge globally. In this talk I will discuss two approaches to tackle this problem. The first one is the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMP), ancient defence molecules that are present in all three domains of life. And in almost all organisms AMPs are expressed as cocktails. AMPs have properties that significantly reduce resistance evolution by comparison to conventional antibiotics. These properties include fast killing and synergistic interactions amongst others. An understudied aspect is the induction of phenotypic resistance that can result in bona fide resistance. In a second step I will talk about the possibility of adding forecasting resistance evolution as a new tool to add to the measures that we currently have to tackle antimicrobial resistance, namely drug development, rapid diagnostics and prudent use. Specifically, I will ask whether experimental evolution in vitro can be used to estimate the risks of resistance evolution. If so, such studies could be used to inform antibiotic stewardship.

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