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Antimicrobial Screening Facility


Antimicrobial screening is the first step of antimicrobial drug discovery to identify suitable candidates against bacterial and fungal infections.

  • Antimicrobial susceptibility testing ascertains the effectiveness of candidates against a panel of target organisms, such as the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species), or custom selections of clinically or industrially relevant microorganisms.
  • Toxicity studies towards representative mammalian cell lines provide an initial assessment of suitability for clinical use and can be used to narrow the pool of candidates to those that are selectively active against microbes.
  • Risk assessment of antimicrobial resistance generation evaluates the effective lifespan of a candidate drug.

Applications:

Typical measurements include Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MICs) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBCs) against a panel of pathogens, Mammalian Cell Culture toxicity assays against relevant cell lines, followed by sub-MIC resistance generation and mutation rate calculations.

Typical samples include, but are not limited to, small molecules, natural products, peptides, metallocompounds and polymers.

Sample handling requirements:

A minimum of 3mg is required per standard test. DMSO or ddH2O are the preferred solvents.

All compounds supplied will be handled according to GLP.

Please feel free to ask if you are unsure, or if there are any additional safety requirements.

Complementary techniques:

Proteomics RTP, microfluidics/microscopy (WISB), infection models (Freya Harrison Cystic Fibrosis, Liz Fullam Tuberculosis, Meera Unnikrishnan Skin Wound), structural biology/NMR (Medicines Discovery Catapult)

Warwick Capability:

The Warwick Antimicrobial Interdisciplinary Centre (WAMIC) brings together over 50 researchers investigating AMR across the scales: from small molecule therapeutics to bacterial targets, from rapid diagnositics to predictive epidemiology. WAMIC can provide expert guidance in several areas including synthetic chemistry, natural products, alternative antimicrobials, pharmacokinetics, structural biology and antimicrobial target characterisation.


Contact:

Dr Ian Hancox, 024 76 150 380

i dot hancox at warwick dot ac dot uk

John Moat , 024 76 522 697

j dot moat at warwick dot ac dot uk


Typical results format, and sample:


Status
Availability
  Warwick can help with experimental design and implementation
  Warwick collect/analyse data
  Warwick test compound
  Report provided to user with analysis
 

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