Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis
University of Notre Dame engineers have joined forces with microbiologists at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, to further investigate a promising strategy for managing cystic fibrosis lung infections.
Cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that causes patients’ airways to fill with a thick and sticky mucus, affects many people around the world.
Ireland has the highest incidence per capita — triple that of the United States — and is home to a significant number of researchers who focus on this disease.
Treating cystic fibrosis lung infections is particularly challenging because they consist of biofilms — aggregates of bacteria encased in a gel-like matrix that are highly resistant to antibiotics.
Previously, Robert Nerenberg, environmental engineer and biofilms expert, and Albert Cerrone, a civil engineer, along with doctoral student Yanina Nahum, demonstrated how combining antibiotics with low-frequency ultrasound greatly increases the effectiveness of the antibiotics.
Now the researchers are partnering with Marta Martins, assistant professor of microbiology at Trinity College, to understand exactly how low-frequency ultrasound enhances antibiotic activity. Martins’ lab researches bacteria’s cellular and molecular mechanisms of defense against antimicrobials.
Nahum spent the summer in Ireland working in Martins’ lab, where she learned new methods for analyzing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, especially via efflux pumps.
“We know that low-frequency ultrasound is impairing the bacteria’s ability to defend themselves,” said Nahum, “and now we have the techniques to better understand how they are doing that.”
In addition to antibiotics, treatments for cystic fibrosis include the use of vibrating vests to loosen mucus from the lungs.
The researchers envision a possible new treatment that would incorporate low-frequency ultrasound into the vibrating vest. The ultrasound could then disable the biofilms’ defense mechanisms and increase the effectiveness of antibiotics. This synergistic effect is particularly important as a way to deal with advanced stages of the disease, when multidrug-resistant biofilms tend to develop.
Low-frequency ultrasound in combination with other types of antimicrobials may have applications beyond this project, Nerenberg said.
“Biofilms grow on devices in hospitals, such as catheters, joint prosthetics and pacemakers,” he said. “They’re a problem in pipes and water systems where pathogens like Legionella (the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease) can grow.
“By looking at the fundamentals of biofilms — at the cellular level— we can determine where this new approach can be used most effectively.”
Latest Research
- Senator Todd Young and NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan visit Notre Dame to discuss critical investments in science and technologyOn Thursday, April 25, Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), joined U.S. Senator Todd Young in a visit to the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The pair met with faculty, students, and University leaders and discussed how research and innovation can drive…
- White House’s Jake Braun addresses statewide cybersecurity summit at Notre DameOn April 18, 2024, leaders in cybersecurity from government, industry, and academia gathered for the 2024 Indiana Statewide Cybersecurity Summit hosted by the University of Notre Dame in collaboration with co-sponsors Indiana University, Purdue University,…
- Hauenstein, Putman named as Simons FellowsTwo University of Notre Dame professors were named fellows of the Simons Foundation for 2024, which will allow them the opportunity to intensely focus on their research for up to a year. Jonathan…
- Literacy scholar Ernest Morrell elected to American Academy of Arts & SciencesErnest Morrell, the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers. Morrell was one of the 250 members of the newest AAAS class announced today. Other notable names among the group include filmmaker George Clooney, Apple CEO Tim Cook, novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and 1993 Notre Dame alumnus Carlos Lozada.
- Notre Dame faculty fight malaria resurgence in BangladeshBetween 2008 and 2020, districts across the country of Bangladesh saw a 93% reduction in malaria cases. Today, as the world reflects on the World…
- Anthropologist's research shows there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to addressing men’s health issues globallyAt a time when health resources are at a premium and need to be wisely allocated, health professionals must find points within men’s lives when it makes the most sense to intervene and advocate for preventive care for promoting better health outcomes. Life transitions such as marriage and fatherhood are often pivotal and crucial intervention points. But just like every man is different, health concerns across global communities differ as well. Research from the University of Notre Dame finds that not all life transitions produce the same health results, and not all men’s global health policies should look the same from one country to another.