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Würstle S, Lee A, Kortright KE, Winzig F, An W, Stanley GL, Rajagopalan G, Harris Z, Sun Y, Hu B, Blazanin M, Hajfathalian M, Bollyky PL, Turner PE, Koff JL, Chan BK. Optimized preparation pipeline for emergency phage therapy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at Yale University. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2657. [PMID: 38302552 PMCID: PMC10834462 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52192-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Bacteriophage therapy is one potential strategy to treat antimicrobial resistant or persistent bacterial infections, and the year 2021 marked the centennial of Felix d'Hérelle's first publication on the clinical applications of phages. At the Center for Phage Biology & Therapy at Yale University, a preparatory modular approach has been established to offer safe and potent phages for single-patient investigational new drug applications while recognizing the time constraints imposed by infection(s). This study provides a practical walkthrough of the pipeline with an Autographiviridae phage targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa (phage vB_PaeA_SB, abbreviated to ΦSB). Notably, a thorough phage characterization and the evolutionary selection pressure exerted on bacteria by phages, analogous to antibiotics, are incorporated into the pipeline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Würstle
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
- Technical University of Munich, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - Alina Lee
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Kaitlyn E Kortright
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Franziska Winzig
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Technical University of Munich, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - William An
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Gail L Stanley
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Govindarajan Rajagopalan
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Zach Harris
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Ying Sun
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Buqu Hu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Michael Blazanin
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Maryam Hajfathalian
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Paul L Bollyky
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Paul E Turner
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
- Program in Microbiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Jonathan L Koff
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
| | - Benjamin K Chan
- Yale Center for Phage Biology and Therapy, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
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Phage Therapy in Germany-Update 2023. Viruses 2023; 15:v15020588. [PMID: 36851802 PMCID: PMC9960545 DOI: 10.3390/v15020588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacteriophage therapy holds promise in addressing the antibiotic-resistance crisis, globally and in Germany. Here, we provide an overview of the current situation (2023) of applied phage therapy and supporting research in Germany. The authors, an interdisciplinary group working on patient-focused bacteriophage research, addressed phage production, phage banks, susceptibility testing, clinical application, ongoing translational research, the regulatory situation, and the network structure in Germany. They identified critical shortcomings including the lack of clinical trials, a paucity of appropriate regulation and a shortage of phages for clinical use. Phage therapy is currently being applied to a limited number of patients as individual treatment trials. There is presently only one site in Germany for large-scale good-manufacturing-practice (GMP) phage production, and one clinic carrying out permission-free production of medicinal products. Several phage banks exist, but due to varying institutional policies, exchange among them is limited. The number of phage research projects has remarkably increased in recent years, some of which are part of structured networks. There is a demand for the expansion of production capacities with defined quality standards, a structured registry of all treated patients and clear therapeutic guidelines. Furthermore, the medical field is still poorly informed about phage therapy. The current status of non-approval, however, may also be regarded as advantageous, as insufficiently restricted use of phage therapy without adequate scientific evidence for effectiveness and safety must be prevented. In close coordination with the regulatory authorities, it seems sensible to first allow some centers to treat patients following the Belgian model. There is an urgent need for targeted networking and funding, particularly of translational research, to help advance the clinical application of phages.
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Liyanagedera SBW, Williams J, Wheatley JP, Biketova AY, Hasan M, Sagona AP, Purdy KJ, Puxty RJ, Feher T, Kulkarni V. SpyPhage: A Cell-Free TXTL Platform for Rapid Engineering of Targeted Phage Therapies. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:3330-3342. [PMID: 36194543 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The past decade has seen the emergence of multidrug resistant pathogens as a leading cause of death worldwide, reigniting interest in the field of phage therapy. Modern advances in the genetic engineering of bacteriophages have enabled several useful results including host range alterations, constitutive lytic growth, and control over phage replication. However, the slow licensing process of genetically modified organisms clearly inhibits the rapid therapeutic application of novel engineered variants necessary to fight mutant pathogens that emerge throughout the course of a pandemic. As a solution to this problem, we propose the SpyPhage system where a "scaffold" bacteriophage is engineered to incorporate a SpyTag moiety on its capsid head to enable rapid postsynthetic modification of their surfaces with SpyCatcher-fused therapeutic proteins. As a proof of concept, through CRISPR/Cas-facilitated phage engineering and whole genome assembly, we targeted a SpyTag capsid fusion to K1F, a phage targeting the pathogenic strain Escherichia coli K1. We demonstrate for the first time the cell-free assembly and decoration of the phage surface with two alternative fusion proteins, SpyCatcher-mCherry-EGF and SpyCatcher-mCherry-Rck, both of which facilitate the endocytotic uptake of the phages by a urinary bladder epithelial cell line. Overall, our work presents a cell-free phage production pipeline for the generation of multiple phenotypically distinct phages with a single underlying "scaffold" genotype. These phages could become the basis of next-generation phage therapies where the knowledge-based engineering of numerous phage variants would be quickly achievable without the use of live bacteria or the need to repeatedly license novel genetic alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joshua Williams
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph P Wheatley
- School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Alona Yu Biketova
- Institute of Biochemistry, Eötvös Lóránd Research Network, Szeged Biological Research Centre, Szeged 6726, Hungary.,Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3AE, United Kingdom
| | - Muhammad Hasan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Antonia P Sagona
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Kevin J Purdy
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J Puxty
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Tamas Feher
- Institute of Biochemistry, Eötvös Lóránd Research Network, Szeged Biological Research Centre, Szeged 6726, Hungary
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