Work package 4

A large number of non-healing wounds are infected with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) and the alarming problems with antibiotic resistance prevent effective infection control in wound care. Hence, there is a great need for new strategies to treat infected non-healing wounds. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are host-defense molecules present in most multicellular organisms, have recently been shown to effectively inhibit skin and soft tissue pathogens and severalfold enhance the effects of antibiotics, without exerting cytotoxic side effects and are thus of large interest from the wound healing perspective.

Within the HEALiX project, we aim to control and inhibit infection and eradicate biofilms in non-healing wounds. We hypothesize that AMP-functionalized dressings will ensure high antimicrobial activity at the target site while minimizing systemic effects.

References

• Di Domenico, E.G., et al., Biofilm is a Major Virulence Determinant in Bacterial Colonization of Chronic Skin Ulcers Independently from the Multidrug Resistant Phenotype. Int J Mol Sci, 2017. 18(5)
• Mangoni, M.L., et al., Antimicrobial peptides and wound healing: biological and therapeutic considerations. Exp Dermatol, 2016. 25(3): p. 167-73.