Assessing the relevance of Galleria mellonella to antibiotic drug discovery for pulmonary infections

Why did we fund this project?

This award aims to establish Galleria mellonella in bacterial and fungal lung infection studies in seven laboratories at King’s College London as a replacement for some mouse models.

Galleria mellonella larvae are increasingly being used as a replacement for mice in infection studies. To study bacterial lung infections, agar beads embedded with bacteria are surgically introduced to the respiratory tract of the mouse under general anaesthetic. Galleria larvae have a number of technical advantages over other invertebrate models and murine models including being able to be maintained at 37^oC. This allows infections to be studied at the same temperature as in humans, an important factor for cellular interactions and temperature-sensitive protein production. The larvae do not have lungs but do possess an innate immune system, including phagocytic cells, which shares similarities with that of humans. This makes the larvae a potentially suitable model for research examining the immune response to lung infection.

Dr James Mason and colleagues at King’s College London will collaborate with BioSystems Technology - a company that provides research grade Galleria larvae, to test whether the larvae can be used in research at King’s that would typically involve the use of mice. The study will focus on optimising for infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a key lung bacterial species. James and colleagues will disseminate their experiences and act as a hub for international researchers who want to take up Galleria in their own laboratories.

What has this project achieved?

James and colleagues have worked in collaboration with Science Animated to produce a video describing their project and the replacement potential of Galleria mellonella.