Fascinating lectures, inspiring discussions and new contacts. The 4th Bacteriophage Symposium, which brought together scientists from all over Poland, is now behind us.
‘The idea behind the first symposium, which took place four years ago, was to bring together scientists who work on bacteriophages in Poland,’ says prof. Grzegorz Węgrzyn, Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Gdańsk.
‘Why in Poland? Because Poland is one of the world leaders in bacteriophage research,’ adds prof. Alicja Węgrzyn, Director of the Phage Therapy Centre at the University of Gdańsk's Centre for Applied and Interdisciplinary Research and President of the Polish Society for Microorganism Virus Research.
‘There is a long tradition of bacteriophage research in Poland. At the end of the 20th century, interest in these viruses declined worldwide because it was believed that everything was already known about them, but in our country, research on these viruses continued. We now know that bacteriophages are the most numerous creatures on Earth, influencing many processes, and since we knew that there were quite a few groups researching bacteriophages in Poland, we decided that it would be a good idea to combine our efforts – and that is how the idea of establishing the Polish Society for Microorganism Virus Research came about,’ explains prof. Grzegorz Węgrzyn.
Very specific viruses. Why is it worth studying them?
Phages are viruses that attack only selected bacteria that are sensitive to them. They infect and kill them, allowing us to get rid of pathogenic bacteria without using antibiotics. ‘In times of antibiotic crisis caused by the emergence of numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, phage therapy is an alternative in both human and veterinary medicine,’ explains prof. Alicja Węgrzyn.
The scientist from the University of Gdańsk explains that bacteriophages are very specific viruses because they multiply only in bacterial cells. The therapy can therefore be used mainly to eliminate bacterial pathogens that are resistant to many antibiotics. ‘We have recently been working on a review article on bacteriophages in the treatment of cancer. It turns out that bacteriophages, and in particular various biotechnological tools based on their modifications, which allow drugs to be delivered precisely, can also eliminate tumours. This therapy is very promising,’ says the biologist.
Prof. Grzegorz Węgrzyn adds that biotechnological tools with specifically modified bacteriophages are used in cancer therapy. ‘The Nobel Prizes in 2018 and 2024 were awarded for the development of tools with bacteriophage derivatives that are used in genetics,’ he explains.
The Phage Therapy Centre in Gdańsk is working on the use of bacteriophages to eliminate pathogens in veterinary medicine. ‘Three-quarters of the world's antibiotic production is used in industrial animal husbandry. As a result, the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in these farms is extremely high.’ In order to make breeding more environmentally friendly, bacteriophages can be used instead of huge amounts of antibiotics," points out prof. Alicja Węgrzyn.
In Wrocław, at the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, patients suffering from skin, bone and sinus infections, complications of diabetic foot, or urinary tract infections, among other things, can benefit from experimental therapy. The symposium was attended by mgr Maciej Żaczek, from the Wrocław centre, who gave a lecture entitled ‘Humoral response in phage therapy and its effectiveness’. ‘Bacteriophages administered in phage therapy can generate the formation of antibodies, which can translate into the outcome of phage therapy. Prof. Andrzej Górski's team from the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the PAS has been publishing papers for many years that show how the humoral response progresses in patients treated with phages. We note that therapeutic bacteriophages administered to patients do generate antibodies, but this does not mean that the humoral response can impair the therapeutic response. Very often, despite high antibody levels, the clinical outcome of phage therapy is positive. We were the first team in Poland to publish such work,’ said mgr Maciej Żaczek.
The biologist from Wrocław adds that not everyone who wants to can benefit from phage therapy – it is necessary to be qualified by a doctor. ‘If a patient qualifies for therapy, we obviously do everything we can to help, but it is important to remember that this is an experimental therapy. It will help some people, but not others. However, we always hope that we will be able to select the right phage for a given bacterium,’ he explains.
Bacteriophages are undesirable in some industries
Phages can help, but they can also harm. During his inaugural lecture, dr hab. Jan Paczesny from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw talked about how to eliminate them, specifically about the nanomaterials used to capture them. ‘We look at phages from both sides. We see a problem, for example, in the chemical and food industries, where more and more active substances are being created in bacteria. For example, phages are a problem in dairies. They cannot be avoided because they react with the substrate, i.e. milk, which cannot be sterilised. Bacteriophages may therefore be present from the beginning of the production process. If, after a week, the production process for cheese or yoghurt has not started, it may turn out that the substrate was infected by phages, and if so, a way to eliminate them must be found,’ explains the Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
Dr hab. J. Paczesny added that nanofactors developed against phages may also be active against viruses that can threaten us. ‘With rising temperatures and melting glaciers, new, unknown viruses may emerge. So if another pandemic broke out, instead of wearing gloves, door handles in hospitals could be coated with nanoparticles or nanocomposites containing systems to combat them,’ he explains. ‘We want to look at the use of nanomaterials in places where infections are most prevalent and the spread of pathogens is most dangerous to humans, in order to control this spread.’
During his lecture, the scientist also presented an interesting discovery: phages interact with microplastics, which may be important for the environment. Will further research on this topic be conducted at the institute? ‘I am a physicochemist, but if someone joined the team who would be involved in researching this topic, I would of course be open to collaboration. Solutions that can change the market result from basic research, but we do not practise art for art's sake. I always have the questions “What is the result?” and “Who is interested in this?” in the back of my mind. We try to approach it this way,’ he said.
Headless bacteriophages
During the conference, researchers from the most important scientific and research centres in Poland presented the results of their research.
Marcin Borowicz, mgr, from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology at the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk, who is working on his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Robert Czajkowski, took part in the conference for the third time. His presentation was awarded first prize for the best oral presentation by a young scientist.
‘I deal with headless bacteriophages - tailocins. These are structures produced by bacteria to kill other bacteria,’ explained Marcin Borowicz. "This is a very interesting system in the context of bacterial ecology. It is worth adding that bacteriophages, once applied, will remain in the environment because they have DNA and replicate. Tailocins, on the other hand, do not have this DNA, so they are single-use,‘ explains the author of the best presentation, entitled ’The ecological role of tailocins produced by plant pathogens of the Pectobacteriaceae family."
The award was given to mgr Karolina Ciemińska, from the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, who is working on her doctoral thesis under the supervision of dr hab. Magdalena Płotka, prof. UG, for her presentation entitled
‘Bacteriophages specific to Enterobacter hormaechei in the elimination and prevention of bacterial biofilm formation on urological catheters’.
The main prize for the best poster was awarded to Bartosz Kamiński from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the PAS, and a distinction was awarded to Dziyana Shymialevich from the Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology - State Research Institute.
____
The 4th Bacteriophage Symposium was organised with the financial support of the Polish Academy of Sciences and BIO-RAD. For the fourth time, the event was co-organised by the Foundation for the Development of the University of Gdańsk.
