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SUMMARY:How does bacterial growth state affect the efficacy of antibiotic 
 treatment? - Dr Rosalind Allen (University of Edinburgh)
DTSTART:20141105T141500Z
DTEND:20141105T151500Z
UID:TALK55298@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Aron Cohen
DESCRIPTION:It is often stated that slow-growing bacteria are more resista
 nt to antibiotics\, but so far there has been no mechanistic explanation f
 or this claim. We have investigated systematically how the growth state of
  Escherichia coli bacteria affects their susceptibility to ribosome-target
 ing antibiotics. We find that the situation is more complex than usually a
 ssumed: while some antibiotics work better for fast-growing cells\, others
  work better for slow-growing cells. It turns out that these observations 
 can be explained by a simple mathematical model that combines drug transpo
 rt and binding with physiological constraints. Our model reveals that grow
 th-dependent susceptibility is controlled by a single parameter characteri
 zing the `reversibility' of antibiotic transport and binding. This paramet
 er could provide an alternative to traditional ways of classifying antibio
 tics. Our result suggest potential strategies for differential targeting o
 f chronic and acute infections\, and could be extended to other classes of
  antibiotics.
LOCATION:Department of Chemistry\, Cambridge\, Pfizer lecture theatre
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