DOWN WITH THE (ANTIBIOTIC) RESISTANCE!

Phages force problem bacteria to expose themselves. A team from Monash University, led by Fernando Gordillo Altamirano, has found a way to reverse antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii by using phages to trick the bacteria into letting down their guard.

Phages are viruses that target bacteria specifically by injecting viral components into the bacterium to kill it.

In a paper published in

Nature Microbiology, the authors describe the mechanism by which phages achieve this. They attack A. baumannii, forcing it to mutate out of defence, thereby changing its protective layer enough to reverse resistance to the antibiotics.

“A. baumannii produces a capsule, a viscous and sticky outer layer that protects it and stops the entry of antibiotics,” says Gordillo Altamirano.

The phages target the capsule layer by using it as their entry point. This forces the bacterium to stop making the layer, leaving it naked and exposed to antibiotics.