Understanding how medical devices become infected

Investigation of a novel bacterial enzyme involved in cardiovascular device infections

Professor Gavin Thomas and his team at the University of York are working out how bacteria form hard-to-treat infections on the surfaces of medical devices such as catheters, pacemaker leads and artificial heart valves. In these infections, bacteria attach to the device surface and become surrounded by molecules that protect them from antibiotics and our immune system. These infections are distressing for the people affected and in some cases can be life-threatening. They are also very expensive to treat. Sometimes the only way to treat the infection is by removing the device. Professor Thomas and his team are studying how the molecules that protect bacteria are made. These protective molecules contain long chains of ‘sugars’ (that are like the sugars in the food we eat). The researchers think that stopping the formation of these sugar chains in the bacteria-protecting molecules might reduce the incidence of the bacterial infections. In this project, they will work out how the sugar chains are produced and if altering this process affects how bacteria form colonies. They’ll also develop a way to identify molecules that could stop colonies forming. This research will reveal more about how infections happen on medical devices, and could identify new ways to prevent or treat them.