Optical Bacteriophage Susceptibility Screening by Surface Plasmon Resonance

The proliferation of multiresistant bacteria is having an increasing and profound impact on the world. A credible alternative to antibiotics is bacteriophage therapy, which are expected in the near future to form the basis of an entirely new treatment paradigm for infectious diseases. In order to facilitate such an epochal transition, new tools are needed for the rapid and multiplexed screening of large libraries of candidate bacteriophages in order to provide a personalized bacteriophage cocktail for each patient. The objective of this PhD is the development of a SPR-based screening method, wherein immobilized bacteriophages form a biosensing layer which produces a measurable surface plasmon resonance signal as a result of the specific interaction between the bacteriophages and their host bacterial cells in a microfluidic flow above the sensor surface. Effective bacteriophages are thus selected from a large pool of candidates and can be formulated into a personalized therapy unique to each patient.