Antimicrobial therapy

Given the rise in antimicrobial resistance, which causes limitations in treatment options, the development of new strategies to combat infections are urgently needed, and antimicrobial peptides represent a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics in human medicine.
Our research during the past decade has been focused on the development and characterization of novel therapeutic strategies against bacterial pathogens by using a specific group of antimicrobial peptides, named bacteriocins. These peptides are cationic and amphipathic and kill target microbes by rapidly permeabilizing their negatively charged membranes. The antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties of these novel peptides are further investigated to characterize their impact on host-microbe interaction, intracellular signaling events, and release of inflammatory mediators.

Our research has recently been expanded to include viral pathogens, and we show convincingly that bacteriocins most potently target viruses by disrupting their envelopes (lipid membrane), including SARS-CoV-2 and several flavivirus strains. We hypothesize that bacteriocins have high affinity towards enveloped viruses and targets virions based on their lipid composition, with higher specificity towards virions that acquire their envelope from intracellular organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum. Research findings generated from the group have resulted in the identification of diagnostic markers and in new innovations and patents that currently are being developed for efficient treatment of bacterial and viral infections.

Our research addresses substantial and qualified medical problems by developing therapeutical technologies with the main goal to treat and prevent bacterial and viral infections, and brings together a group of interdisciplinary researchers:

• Daniel Aili (Prof. Linköping Univ.)
• Kristiina Oksman (Prof. Luleå Tech. Univ.)
• Johan Junker (Assoc. Prof. Linköping Univ. Hospital)
• Jorma Hinkula (Prof. Linköping Univ.)
• Per Eugen Kristiansen (Assoc. Prof. Oslo Univ.)
• Maria Lerm (Prof. Linköping Univ.), Robert Selegård (Assoc. Prof. SGI)