Development of polymeric-??cyclodextrins with drug nanocarrier and host directed properties against Tuberculosis. – CycloTub

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, kills 1.6 million people each year. Current oral antibiotic therapy is restrictive, time-consuming and has many side effects. With the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains and the weaknesses of oral therapy, there is an urgent need to develop a more appropriate treatment. In this research project, I propose to aerosolize original oligosaccharide-based nanoparticles (poly-?-cyclodextrins or p?CD) loaded with an adapted combination of antibiotics. This ambitious project is interdisciplinary and based on strong proof of concept.
I demonstrated that encapsulating antibiotics in these p?CD and delivering them directly to the lungs, significantly increased treatment efficacy in favor of the oral administration in mice. I also found that these non-loaded particles (in absence of antibiotics) had the intrinsic feature of enhancing host defenses and thus decreasing bacterial load. In this research project, I propose to - characterize at the molecular and cellular level the antibacterial effect of p?CDs and - incorporate developing molecules into them.