Advanced Microscopic and Biosensing Approaches for Monitoring Bacteriophage-Mediated Lysis of Bacteria
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | Phage therapy uses lytic phages to kill the bacterial host as a result of the virus life cycle, thus working with dynamic, living, and evolving entities. For the development and optimization of effective phage-based treatments, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that participate in the process of phage-mediated bacterial lysis. Promising new approaches such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing can be utilized for this purpose. Both are sensitive and rapid analytical methods that provide detailed insight into how phages interact with bacterial cells and allow for monitoring immobilized cells under native conditions in real-time. In our study, we investigated the efficacy of lytic antimicrobials against the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Specifically, we explored the mechanisms of bacterial lysis mediated by the phage vB_SauP_P68 (P68) and the enzyme lysostaphin. AFM enabled a high-resolution investigation of topographical and biomechanical properties at the single-cell level. The SPR experiments completed the work with the information on the kinetics of agent-bacterium interaction. The results are expected to advance the development of this promising field, combat bacterial infections and support the exploitation of phage therapy. |
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