The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "When Antibiotics Fail: How to Deal with Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections?" presented by Sheila N. Bello-Irizarry, postdoctoral fellow with the University of Rochester Medical Center's Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, on Tuesday, April 14, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Technology Building 160.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem worldwide. The increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant infections are due to antibiotic use within both human and veterinary medicine. Any use of antibiotics can increase selective pressure in a population of bacteria that promotes resistant bacteria to thrive and susceptible bacteria to die off. As resistance to antibiotics becomes more common, a greater need for alternative treatments arises. One alternative is to provide specific antibacterial antibodies to the host for early detection and killing of the bacteria, which is called passive immunization. One of the most common and dangerous drug-resistant bacteria is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Approximately 80 percent of prosthetic joint infections are caused by S. aureus, and 50 percent of these are cause by MRSA. In a mouse model of prosthetic joint infection, we have shown that passive immunization against autolysin, a cell wall protein of S. aureus essential for cell division and biofilm formation, protects mice from abscess formation and biofilm in vivo. The mechanism of action involves aiding immune recognition by recruiting macrophages, a type of phagocytes that engulf and destroy bacteria in the host.