Trial lecture - time and place
22.01.2026, 10.15, Helga Engs hus, Auditorium 2
Antibiotic Resistance and the Microbiome: A Hidden Reservoir
Conferral summary
I dette doktorgradsarbeidet studeres adjuvanter som kan brukes til å hemme bakterielle mekanismer som forårsaker resistens. Funnene bidrar til å motkjempe effekten av antibiotikaresistens, et verdensdekkende problem som truer vår overlevelse.
Main research findings
Antimicrobial resistance is a silent pandemic that threatens modern medicine by limiting our treatment options against drug-resistant pathogens. Bacterial enzymes that break down β-lactam type antibiotics are referred to as β-lactamases. These are troublesome both due to their abundance and difference in functionality. This difference limits the effect of currently available drugs that aim to inhibit these enzymes, in which none are able to target the metallo-based β-lactamases (MBLs). This thesis describes chemical compounds that aims to inhibit the function of MBLs, and as such, reverse resistance and restore the function of β-lactam antibiotics. Findings demonstrate that compounds which are designed to bind metal ions (chelators) are effective in inhibiting MBLs due to the enzyme’s dependency on zinc. Compound APC24-7 represents a covalent combination of compounds that includes a chelator and showed broadened effect against MBLs. In contrast, APC148 is purely chelator-based and was used to study whether bacteria can develop resistance towards drug combinations with this inhibitor. Though mutations in genes commonly associated with antibiotic resistance emerged, the loss of genes coding β-lactamases were noteworthy. Overall, these studies highlight the importance of continued exploration into chelator-based inhibitors to aid in combating β-lactam resistance.