Nanoscale follow up of antibiotics segregation in Gram negative bacteria

This proposal aims at investigating the intracellular concentration and subcellular localization of antimicrobial compounds into Gram-negative bacteria in respect with their envelope permeability. In Gram-negative bacteria, envelope permeability defects are responsible for the limited accumulation of antibacterial drugs, which is a significant contributing factor to their limited antibacterial activity. This proposal is based on using correlative 3D cryo X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging approaches to specifically localize and quantify antibiotic-metal complexes, as novel antibacterial probes, within Escherichia coli cells, as Gram-negative models, at nanoscale resolution. The obtained data will provide unique quantitative 3D of antibacterial drugs in single cells and an invaluable proof of concept for the development of new antibacterial drugs.