The Role of Pyocyanin in the Protection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Singlet Oxygen

The Role of Pyocyanin in the Protection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Singlet Oxygen

Presenter(s)

Celeste Claire Bergman, Edward T Eshoo, Grace Kathryn Goulet, Stacey Marie Lapurga

Comments

This poster reflects research conducted as part of a course project designed to give students experience in the research process.

Description

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes both acute and chronic infections in immunocompromised individuals. P. aeruginosa is resistant to many antibiotics, and there is a critical need for novel antimicrobial strategies that are viable for clinical use. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is currently undergoing clinical trials. PDT involves chemicals called photosensitizers that when exposed to light, produce a highly reactive oxygen species 1O2. Singlet oxygen can non-specifically cause damage to all cellular structures of rapidly metabolizing organisms such as bacteria, while slower metabolizing host tissues are less affected. Furthermore, light can be restricted to only afflicted areas, thus limiting the damage to healthy tissues. 1O2 is naturally produced during photosynthesis, and photosynthetic organisms produce pigmented compounds such as Beta- carotene that can absorb 1O2 before damaging the cells. P. aeruginosa produces a blue pigmented compound pyocyanin when they grow in high density. In previous study, pyocyanin was discovered to be capable of binding 1O2. In this project, we hypothesize that P. aeruginosa pyocyanin can have a protective role against singlet oxygen. The data from this project can provide an important insight to possible resistant mechanisms against a novel antimicrobial therapy still in development. Understanding the resistance against PDT prior to clinical use can have a significant impact towards shaping how PDT is administered in clinical environments, so that resistant strains do not eliminate PDT as an option the way antibiotics have been eliminated by resistant strains.

Publication Date

4-18-2018

Project Designation

Course Project

Primary Advisor

Yasuhiko Irie

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

The Role of Pyocyanin in the Protection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Singlet Oxygen

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