Project 2: Mechanisms of P. aeruginosa antibiotic resistance

Use of mTn5-aacC1-GFP in wild-type strain PAK or Pm(r) MDR CF strain 1887. Lab strain PAK Tn insertions vs. breakthrough colonies with Gm/Cm selection under bright-field (A) and fluorescent (B) illumination. CF strain 1887 Tn insertions vs. breakthrough with Gm/Cm selection (1000 mg/L Gm + 15mg/L Cm) under bright-field (C; arrowhead and arrow) and fluorescent (D; arrow) illumination.
(photos by Mark Brannon)

Resistance to Pm E (colistin) is emerging as an important problem in CF clinical care. Pm acts at the cell wall; thus, Pm resistance mechanisms that modify the cell wall may reduce permeability, and thus susceptibility, to other antibiotic classes. Dr. Moskowitz and his collaborators are studying Pm-resistant strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from CF patients treated with Pm E. They are using a variety of state-of-the-art techniques such as whole genome sequencing to define novel mechanisms of resistance to Pm and other antibiotics.

Current collaborators on this project include Drs. Niels Høiby and Helle Krogh Johansen of the University of Copenhagen, Dr. Lisa Saiman of Columbia University, and Drs. Rajinder Kaul and Michael Jacobs of the University of Washington.

Click here to go to Project 3: In vitro PK-PD modeling of antibiotic interactions with P. aeruginosa biofilms.