Phages: tiny superheroes combat antibiotic resistant bacteria

name: Huang Wanzhen Tao Shuhan Ma Tianyu Xu Jiashang

1. Overview of antibiotic resistance 3. Strengths and Weaknesses

Advantages:
Antibiotic resistance: 1. Lyse super bacteria(1)
• Occurs when bacteria evolve and find 2. Target only harmful bacteria(1)
new ways to beat the medicine(1). 3. Less medicine dosage
• Super bacteria 4. Reduce antibiotic use (1)
• Resistance with deployment
Disadvantages:
5. Narrow cleavage spectrum(6)
6. Tolerance developed quickly(6)
7. Antibodies against phages(1)
Global threat: 8. Laws and regulations hard to define(1)
• global health, food security, and development (1) 9. Release of harmful antigens(1)
• now killing 700,000 people a year.
• 10 million deaths per year by 2050 if not Solution:
improved(2). 1. cocktail therapy （ HAART ） .
• pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and 2. Antibiotics in combination with phages.
salmonellosis(1). 3. Neutralize antibodies against phages in the
longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and body.
increased mortality. 4. Neutralize the toxin produced during
bacterial cleavage(1).

2. Phages Biology 4. Future Prospects

Potential:
The structure of phage: • Opinions of the public:
1. nucleic acid : ds DNA, ds RNA, ss DNA, ss RNA. A growing understanding, active interest
2. T4 ： an icosahedral capsid and a linear double- and a more open mind(8)
stranded viral DNA (4). • Authorities:
3. The tail (fibers and pins): structures bind to receptors 1. Clinical trials are conducted
on the bacteria surface(4). 2. Prone to regulate phage therapy
• Industry:
1. High investments required
T4 structure
2. Few small medium enterprise engaged
Future work:
Infection Process: • Synthetic phage engineering:
1. Binding and injection Create specialized or designer phages
2. Genome replication • Industrial phage propagation strains:
3. Transcription and translation(4)
4. Package and release(4) • Clinical trials:
Efficacy and safety assessment

References
1. Kortright KE, Chan BK, Koff JL, Turner PE. Phage Therapy: A Renewed Approach to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. Cell Host Microbe. 2019 Feb 13;25(2):219–32.
2. Antibiotic resistance [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 17]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance
3. Bacteriophage: Structure, Replication and Uses - Learn Microbiology Online [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 18]. Available from: https://microbeonline.com/bacteriophage-structure-replication-use/
4. Bacteriophage: A solution to our antibiotics problem? How we can us a virus to fight bacterial infection [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 18]. Available from: https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/bacteriophage-solution-antibiotics-problem/
5. Viruses [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 18]. Available from: https://cronodon.com/BioTech/Virus_Tech.html
6. Gurney J, Brown SP, Kaltz O, Hochberg ME. Steering phages to combat bacterial pathogens. Trends Microbiol. 2020 Feb;28(2):85–94.
7. Gordillo Altamirano FL, Barr JJ. Phage Therapy in the Postantibiotic Era. Clin Microbiol Rev [Internet]. 2019 Jan 16 [cited 2021 Apr 18];32(2). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6431132/
8. Górski A, Międzybrodzki R, Łobocka M, Głowacka-Rutkowska A, Bednarek A, Borysowski J, et al. Phage Therapy: What Have We Learned? Viruses. 2018 Jun;10(6):288.