I might have missed this but are you saying that the antimetabolites could be used for antibiotic resistance, but your specific ones didn’t work? Also, what is the definition of a antimetabolites?
Great question, I’m sorry if that wasn’t more clear in the presentation! Loosely defined, antimetabolites are drugs that inhibit the use of a metabolite by the cell. There are a few different types of antimetabolites but the ones that we studied are often used in cancer treatment since they inhibit DNA synthesis/replication through their structure. Because they inhibit DNA synthesis, these drugs have also been studied as antimicrobial compounds and due to promising preliminary data, we chose to pursue it in our research project. Although our compounds did not work as hoped for, there are still other classes of antimetabolites that should be further studied as stated in future directions.
If decitabine does inhibit Salmonella growth then the most crucial next steps would be to a) elucidate which dose is the most effective at doing so and b) try to get a sense of the chemical structure and functional groups of the compound that interact with the Salmonella and how these important interactions work.
Because we had preliminary data suggesting that the anti-cancer metabolites such as Gemcitabine may perform as effective antibiotics. It wasn’t until after we performed our research that we learned closely related drugs (Sulfanilamides) may be more targeted to bacteria specifically, which is why this would be a great place to start for future researchers.
Great question, as this piece of our data was quite puzzling. This certainly needs further investigation, and most likely another trial, but we believe it is simply due human error either in the making of our concentrated stock solution (Perhaps we used too much or too little of the compound) or in the pipetting steps that we performed. It’s also possible that this certain compound promotes the growth of our Salmonella through unknown mechanisms.
Great question! While preliminary reports suggested that our compounds could be effective antimicrobials, our specific antimetabolites are often used in cancer treatment. It wasn’t until we were underway in our project and investigating future directions that we learned another type of antimetabolite, Sulfonamides, have been reported to target bacteria more directly as they target dihydrofolate synthesis in the microbes.
In short, we believe that they would be better to study in the future because they are more targeted to bacteria specifically.
I might have missed this but are you saying that the antimetabolites could be used for antibiotic resistance, but your specific ones didn’t work? Also, what is the definition of a antimetabolites?
What specifically is an antimetabolite? I am curious as to what they are and what they do now related to their purpose?
Great question, I’m sorry if that wasn’t more clear in the presentation! Loosely defined, antimetabolites are drugs that inhibit the use of a metabolite by the cell. There are a few different types of antimetabolites but the ones that we studied are often used in cancer treatment since they inhibit DNA synthesis/replication through their structure. Because they inhibit DNA synthesis, these drugs have also been studied as antimicrobial compounds and due to promising preliminary data, we chose to pursue it in our research project. Although our compounds did not work as hoped for, there are still other classes of antimetabolites that should be further studied as stated in future directions.
If decitabine does inhibit Salmonella growth, what future experiments would you do after that?
If decitabine does inhibit Salmonella growth then the most crucial next steps would be to a) elucidate which dose is the most effective at doing so and b) try to get a sense of the chemical structure and functional groups of the compound that interact with the Salmonella and how these important interactions work.
Why did you choose the drugs in the selected class as opposed to drugs in the Sulfanilamide class?
Because we had preliminary data suggesting that the anti-cancer metabolites such as Gemcitabine may perform as effective antibiotics. It wasn’t until after we performed our research that we learned closely related drugs (Sulfanilamides) may be more targeted to bacteria specifically, which is why this would be a great place to start for future researchers.
What made your compounds more similar to your negative control than your positive?
Great question, as this piece of our data was quite puzzling. This certainly needs further investigation, and most likely another trial, but we believe it is simply due human error either in the making of our concentrated stock solution (Perhaps we used too much or too little of the compound) or in the pipetting steps that we performed. It’s also possible that this certain compound promotes the growth of our Salmonella through unknown mechanisms.
I don’t remember if you mentioned this but why do you think Sulfonamides would be a better drug as opposed to the antimetabolites you tested?
Great question! While preliminary reports suggested that our compounds could be effective antimicrobials, our specific antimetabolites are often used in cancer treatment. It wasn’t until we were underway in our project and investigating future directions that we learned another type of antimetabolite, Sulfonamides, have been reported to target bacteria more directly as they target dihydrofolate synthesis in the microbes.
In short, we believe that they would be better to study in the future because they are more targeted to bacteria specifically.