NC3Rs: National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research
Partnerships and impact awards

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

a photo showing a glass slide being held by a scientist, near to a microscope

At a glance

Completed
Award date
July 2019 - January 2020
Grant amount
£72,196
Principal investigator
Dr James Mason
Institute
King's College London

R

  • Replacement
Read the abstract
View the grant profile on GtR

Contents

Overview

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 37oC. 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.

  
 

This project was awarded under the skills and knowledge transfer scheme, which ran from 2017 to 2022, supporting the exchange and uptake of models, tools or technologies with immediate and deliverable 3Rs impacts. The NC3Rs continues to provide funding to build new collaborations between developers and end-users through our partnerships and impact awards to catalyse the transfer of 3Rs methods.

Publications

  1. Kim S-H et al. (2024). Development of Novel Membrane Disrupting Lipoguanidine Compounds Sensitizing Gram-Negative Bacteria to Antibiotics. ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 15(2):239-249. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00460
  2. Clarke M et al. (2023). Synergy between Winter Flounder antimicrobial peptides. npj Antimicrobials and Resistance 1:8. doi: 10.1038/s44259-023-00010-7
  3. Di Blasio S et al. (2022). Bolaamphiphile Analogues of 12-bis-THA Cl2 Are Potent Antimicrobial Therapeutics with Distinct Mechanisms of Action against Bacterial, Mycobacterial, and Fungal Pathogens. mSphere 8:e00508-22. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00508-22
  4. Touitou M et al. (2019). Improving the Potency of N-Aryl-2,5-dimethylpyrroles against Multidrug-Resistant and Intracellular Mycobacteria. ACS Med Chem Lett 11(5):638-644. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00515