Bjorn Criel

Ghent University | UGhent · Department of Biotechnology

Endolysins and their derivatives have emerged in recent years as a novel class of antibacterials, which have now entered the clinical phases. Their rapid mode-of-action and proteinaceous nature differentiates them from any other class of antibiotics. A key feature of endolysins is their modularity and the opportunities that emerge thereof to custom...

The phage lysin field has done nothing but grow in the last decades. As a result, many different research groups around the world are contributing to the field, often with certain methodological differences that pose a challenge to the interpretation and comparison of results. In this work, we present the case study of three Acinetobacter baumannii...

The rising antimicrobial resistance is particularly alarming for Acinetobacter baumannii, calling for the discovery and evaluation of alternatives to treat A. baumannii infections. Some bacteriophages produce a structural protein that depolymerizes capsular exopolysaccharide. Such purified depolymerases are considered as novel antivirulence compoun...

Phage lytic proteins are a clinically advanced class of novel enzyme-based antibiotics, so-called enzybiotics. A growing community of researchers develops phage lytic proteins with the perspective of their use as enzybiotics. A successful translation of enzybiotics to the market requires well-considered selections of phage lytic proteins in early r...

Nowadays, bacteriophages are increasingly considered as an alternative treatment for a variety of bacterial infections in cases where classical antibiotics have become ineffective. However, characterizing the host specificity of phages remains a labor- and time-intensive process. In order to alleviate this burden, we have developed a new machine-le...