Targeting pan-drug resistant (PDR) Gram-negative pathogens with novel antisense drug technology

This project aims to develop novel antisense oligonucleotides as an efficient and common therapeutic for targeting the polymyxin resistant gram-negative pathogens. The project utilizes well-established bioinformatics tools to design and identify a target gene sequence, which then will used to design the antisense peptide nucleic acid. In addition, a novel proprietary peptide has already been developed, which will be used selectively deliver these oligonucleotides. The state-of-art in-house capabilities will be utilized to synthesize the oligonucleotides. These new oligonucleotides will be new therapeutics for the increasing threats of infections caused by resistant gram-negative pathogen. At the same time, the knowledge gained through this study will be used to investigate the mechanisms by which resistance is developed in gram-negative pathogens. In addition, involved students will be exposed to the advanced drug development research, as enhanced diagnostic and therapeutic agents.