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Studying Bacteriophage Efficacy Using a Zebrafish Model

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Bacteriophage Therapy

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2734))

Abstract

The rise of bacteria resistant to the antibiotics currently in use (multiple drug-resistant, MDR) is a serious problem for patients affected by infections. This situation is even more worrying in the case of chronic bacterial infections, such as those caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa), in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). As an alternative to antibiotic treatments, the use of bacteriophages (phages) to fight bacterial infections has gained increasing interest in the last few years. Phages are viruses that specifically infect and multiply within the bacteria without infecting eukaryotic cells. It is well assumed that phage therapy has a high bacterial specificity, which, unlike antibiotics, should limit the damage to the endogenous microbiome. In addition, phages can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and perform self-amplification at the site of the infection.

The protocol detailed in this chapter describes how the antimicrobial effect of phages can be studied in vivo in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model infected with Pa. The same procedure can be applied to test the effectiveness of several different phages killing other bacterial species and for the rapid preclinical testing of phages to be used as personalized medicine.

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Change history

  • 09 January 2024

    A correction has been published.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all of our co-authors on the original papers from which we have taken exemplary results. The work was funded by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation grants (grant numbers: FFC#22/2017, FFC#23/2019, FFC# 15/2021, FFC#12/2022) awarded to Anna Pistocchi and Federica Briani.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Marco Cafora, Alessia Brix & Anna Pistocchi

  2. Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Francesca Forti & Federica Briani

Authors
  1. Marco Cafora
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  2. Alessia Brix
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  3. Francesca Forti
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  4. Federica Briani
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  5. Anna Pistocchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Pistocchi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Joana Azeredo

  2. International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Braga, Portugal

    Sanna Sillankorva

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Cafora, M., Brix, A., Forti, F., Briani, F., Pistocchi, A. (2024). Studying Bacteriophage Efficacy Using a Zebrafish Model. In: Azeredo, J., Sillankorva, S. (eds) Bacteriophage Therapy. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2734. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3523-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3523-0_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3522-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3523-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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