How the immune protein Caspase-1 affects bacteria's resistance to antibiotics
Official title: A non-canonical role of Caspase-1 in regulating bacterial antimicrobial resistance
Funded at Institute for Systems Biology · NIH-11177635 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether a human immune protein called Caspase-1 can make bacteria living inside immune cells less resistant to antibiotics, which could help people with hard-to-treat infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Institute for Systems Biology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $235,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R21AI178424-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11177635 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People most relevant to this research would be patients with intracellular bacterial infections (for example, Salmonella) or those with multidrug‑resistant Gram‑negative infections who might benefit from improved antibiotic strategies.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with viral illnesses, non‑bacterial conditions, or easily treated extracellular bacterial infections are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this early lab-focused research.
What this research studies
Researchers will use a new sequencing method (Path-Seq) to read bacterial RNA from inside infected immune cells and see how host signals change bacterial gene activity. The team focuses on Salmonella inside macrophages and will study how Caspase-1 influences the bacterial PhoPQ system that controls resistance to host antimicrobial peptides and the last‑resort drug polymyxin B. Most experiments are lab-based using infected cells and related models rather than testing treatments in people. The goal is to reveal mechanisms that could guide therapies or drug combinations to make antibiotics work better against intracellular or drug‑resistant bacteria.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to new ways to boost the body's defenses or combine therapies so antibiotics work better against intracellular and drug‑resistant bacteria.
How similar studies have gone: Sequencing bacterial RNA from infected host cells is a recent advance and related lab studies suggest host factors can change bacterial resistance, but targeting Caspase‑1 to reduce antimicrobial resistance is a novel, early-stage idea.
Where this research is happening
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Institute for Systems Biology
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Akhade, Ajay Suresh — Institute for Systems Biology
- Study coordinator: Akhade, Ajay Suresh
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.