FORBIMED
RESEARCH COLLABORATION - BIOMARKERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES
D4 - Detection of Antibiotic and Antimycotic Resistance in vitro and in vivo Via MALDI-TOF MS
This research project is dedicated to employ MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for (i) in vitro resistance testing for virtually all relevant anti-infective substances, (ii) fist-time antibiotic and antimycotic resistance testing directly from patient samples. The advantage of the MALDI-TOF MS technology over conventional technique is the significant reduction of time to results from 8-16 h to less than 3 h. The detection of antimycotic resistances in Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp. is feasible by detecting shifts of protein patterns in presence of the respective antimycotic substance. In this project we will extend the testing on cultivation of fungi in artificial urine medium or even on patient samples (e.g. urine). A further project is dedicated to apply novel phenotypic tests based on MALDI-TOF MS measurement of incorporated isotope-labeled amino acids after short-term incubation of bacteria (and fungi) in presence of antibacterial (antifungal) substances. This method will allow the determination of resistance for virtually all antibiotics in a short time course, which has not yet reached before (< 3 h). The third project will detect quantitatively newly synthesized proteins in bacteria/fungi cultivated in presence of antimicrobial substances. This method will also allow the detection of a multitude of resistances in a rather short time to result (< 3 h). In conclusion, the implementation of MALDI-TOF MS as a fast and reliable tool for resistance testing is promising and will have a particular impact on future clinical microbiology.