According to a recent report commissioned by the UK government, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious worldwide threat to the public health. It estimated that by 2050, 10 million lives a year – more than currently die from cancer – are at risk due to the rise of drug resistant infections. Urgent solutions are required to slow down the rise of AMR. Part of the solution is the development of new antimicrobial compounds and other alternative methods to antibiotic treatment. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of 12 global priority pathogens for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is included in the list. S. aureus is the leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections, both community and hospital-acquired. S. aureus is often associated with the upper urinary tract and kidney infection (pyelonephritis). Our group is interested in identification, synthesis, characterization and testing of novel antibacterial drug targets in clinically relevant staphylococcal infections.1 Traditional methods of neutralizing of pathogenic microorganisms in experimental in vitro and in vivo models of infections have mostly relied on topical or systemic administration of chemical drugs with bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects. We are also interested in developing non-traditional treatment approaches, which may be used in addition to standard medical procedures especially when it comes to S. aureus-related skin infections. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) or ionized gas is known for its potent antibacterial effects that are mainly attributed to the production of long- and short-lived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.2 The general aim of this project is to test the antibacterial effect of potentially therapeutic candidates. New generation sequencing (NGS) technology and hypothesis-generating bioinformatics will be used as the tools to identify changes in prokaryotic genes induced by our anti
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