Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has spread rapidly around the globe, making it an increasing threat to the society. Once powerful antibiotics have now become virtually useless. The situation is especially dire for Gram-negative bacteria where the vast majority of antibiotics are no longer effective. We are developing new strategies that help antibiotics to traverse penetration barriers and accumulate, and thus revive and extend the lifespan of antibiotics. For example, we discovered that certain sugars, when conjugated onto nanoparticles, could significantly increase the surface binding and penetration of nanoparticles into the bacterium. These are bacterium-specific sugars as they are important for the survival of the bacterium but are not expressed by human cells. We are also developing antibiotic-conjugates and nanodrugs to combat AMR.
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