In vitro models of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection to study resistance acquisition and inform the selection of novel treatment strategies.

Antibiotic resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a developing and serious threat. N. gonorrhoeae is currently listed on the WHO priority list of pathogens for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. A major obstacle to the development of new drugs to address the threat of MDR and XDR is the absence of robust and predictable models. This project will aim to develop more representative intracellular and extracellular models of N. gonorrhoeae infection. Kinetic live-cell confocal imaging and flow cytometric methods will be used to characterise infection dynamics in appropriate human cell lines. The quantitative data generated will be used to translate dosing regimens to humans following PK/PD modelling. Developing novel and robust drug development models to investigate the threat of MDR and XDR is essential for the prioritisation of drugs, the selection of drug combinations and regimen selection.