Strategic drug repurposing for biofilm-associated bacterial vaginosis (BV) treatment.

This project aims to identify a novel therapy for bacterial vaginosis biofilms through the use of a drug-repurposing approach. Based on preliminary data, 28 candidate compounds will be streamlined according to four workplans (WPs), with hope of identifying and characterising the candidate with the highest potential for clinical applicability. The aims of each individual WP are as follows;

WP1: The aim of this WP is to characterise candidate hits based on their spectrum of activity against clinical G. vaginalis isolates, and lack of effect against commensal lactobacilli.

WP2: This WP aims to determine the efficacy of candidates against mature mono- and multi-species BV biofilms using the Mk1C MinION sequencer to determine total and viable abundance of each bacterial species.

WP3: Aims to exclude any candidates with cytotoxic and/or inflammatory effects on human vaginal epithelial tissue.

WP4: The final WP aims to determine the mechanism of action from the best candidate compound, based on preceding datasets, using RNAseq transcriptomic analysis of treated multispecies biofilms.