The increase in resistance to antibiotics and the difficulty of producing new compounds stimulate the search for alternative anti-infectious strategies. Among these, antivirulence therapies directed against the genes of the microbes or toxins of their production have a particular role. The virulence and antibiotic resistance processes of bacteria are regulated by small fragments of RNA (sRNA). SRNAs have been shown to play a key role in the modulation mechanisms of bacterial virulence and also in antibiotic resistance processes. This project originates from FFC#13/2015 and FFC#14/2016 and takes advantage of the results obtained from the most recent FFC#10/2020 pilot project, of which this project is an extension. ErsA is the sRNA that has proved to be the most promising target, therefore in this project, the research group will proceed with the tests of anti-ErsA molecules, called Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNA), capable of blocking the regulatory function of ErsA, including the specific NAPs for ErsA generated by FFC#10/2020. Researchers will evaluate whether these anti-ErsA PNAs can be used for future applications as anti-virulence drugs alone or in combination with clinically used antibiotics in the treatment of P. aeruginosa lung infections.

XIX Convention FFC Ricerca – download here a brief presentation of the project