# Novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of drug-resistant Gram-positive infections

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2021 · $76,500

## Abstract

Emergence of hospital-associated drug-resistant bacterial infections represents one of
the major challenges for the US healthcare system. There is an urgent need for
development of new and more effective anti-bacterial agents targeting previously
unexplored cellular processes. The goal of this proposal is to find a novel class of
biological drugs active against Staphylococcus aureus and pathogenic Enterococci. The
bacterial cell wall biogenesis is an established drug target for many existing and novel
antibacterial agents. In recent years, lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis pathways emerged
as an attractive target for development of new therapeutics. Published data indicate that
lipoteichoic acid is required for the growth and survival of Gram-positive bacteria in the
host. The experiments in this proposal are designed to generate single domain camelid
antibodies (nanobodies) that bind and inactivate extracellular domains of enzymes
involved in synthesis and modification of lipoteichoic acid. Upon successful completion
of this project we will obtain a number of nanobodies active against S. aureus and
Enterococci that would be further validated in in vivo studies. The strategies developed
in the proposed study will be also applicable to other medically relevant bacterial
pathogens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10134023
- **Project number:** 1R03AI151878-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Konstantin V Korotkov
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $76,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-11-12 → 2022-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10134023

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10134023, Novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of drug-resistant Gram-positive infections (1R03AI151878-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10134023. Licensed CC0.

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