Host-Microbe Interaction

The mission of the HMI research group is to exploit interactions between the human host, microbes and drugs for better health. Our goal is to develop new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies to prevent and treat bacterial infections. To achieve this goal, HMI research spans over these areas:

1) Bacterial colonization, virulence, and pathogenesis;

2) Human microbiome as a target and tool for preventing infections;

3) Antimicrobial agents, activities, and resistance.


We are located at the Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT, and a part of the Centre for new ANtibacterial Strategies (CANS). We work closely with the Pediatric Infection Research Group with whom we share our laboratories.

Members



See the overview of our current and past projects, based on the research area.



HMI accepts ambitious Bachelor and Master students with relevant backgrounds (e.g., Biomedicine, Pharmacy, Clinical Nutrition, Bioinformatics, Medicine, etc.) for various project-based work. We are also involved in the following teaching activities:



current PhD students and their projects

Srijana Bastakoti - Identification of key determinants for Staphylococcus aureus throat colonization: A transcriptomic approach

Md Jalal Uddin - Identification and validation of new enzymatic activities in pathogenic bacteria by activity-based protein profiling

Gaute Hovde Bø - The impact of probiotic and antibiotic use on the early life gut microbiome: A metabolomic approach

Ahmed Bargheet - The impact of probiotic and antibiotic use on the early life gut microbiota, resistome, and mobilome

Nadia Aftab - Dissecting Cellular Phenotypic Heterogeneity of bacterial pathogen populations in relation to dormancy and virulence

Merete Elise Olsen Røkeberg - Identification and functional studies of colonisation determinants in Staphylococcus aureus

Kenneth Lindstedt Human gut colonisation by the Klebsiella pneumoniae Species Complex: improving detection and understanding of the presence, duration, dynamics, and microbiome associations

Jeanette Slettnes Grunnvåg - Identification and functional characterization of enzymes from Enterococcus faecium 


2023-2024 MSc students and their projects

Efat Muhammad Arshad - Characterization of Bifidobacterium longum carbohydrate metabolism by mass spectrometry-based omics

Thomas Lien - Absolute quantification of E. coli from stool samples using qPCR

Helle Stenseth - Pilot study of untargeted metabolomics methods to evaluate fecal metabolome of infants receiving probiotics or placebo (ProRIDE trial)

Mia Petrell Langaas - The gut resistome in a community-based adult population 

Jasmin Wilhelmsen - Characterising heterogeneity of Staphylococcus aureus Fibronectin binding protein

Balqees Adeola Olobada - Probes for Klebsiella pneumoniae and possible interactions 



For publications, check CRISTIN

Selection of 2023 publications (updated December):

Theresa Maria Wagner, Anna K. Pöntinen, Mushtaq AL. Rubaye, Arnfinn Sundsfjord, Kristin HegstadAdaptive cell wall thickening in Enterococcus faecalis is associated with decreased vancomycin susceptibility. Open AccessPublished: December 06, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2023.12.002

Ljungquist O, Haldorsen B, Pöntinen AK, Janice J, Josefsen EH, Elstrøm P, Kacelnik O; Norwegian Study Group on CPE; Sundsfjord A, Samuelsen Ø; Members of The Norwegian Study Group on CPE. Nationwide, population-based observational study of the molecular epidemiology and temporal trend of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in Norway, 2015 to 2021. Euro Surveill 2023 

Wagner, T.M.; Romero-Saavedra, F.; Laverde, D.; Johannessen, M.; Hübner, J.; Hegstad, K. Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023

Bastakoti, Srijana; Ajayi, Clement; Julin, Kjersti; Johannessen, Mona; Hanssen, Anne Merethe. Exploring differentially expressed genes of Staphylococcus aureus exposed to human tonsillar cells using RNA sequencing. BMC Microbiology 2023

Fellner, Matthias; Walsh, Annabel; Ahator, Stephen Dela; Aftab, Nadia; Sutherland, Ben; Tan, Eng W; Bakker, Alexander T; Martin, Nathaniel I; van der Stelt, Mario; Lentz, Christian Stephan. Biochemical and Cellular Characterization of the Function of Fluorophosphonate-Binding Hydrolase H (FphH) in Staphylococcus aureus Support a Role in Bacterial Stress Response. ACS Infectious Diseases 2023

Wagner, Theresa; Janice, Jessin; Schluz, Marc; Ballard, Susan; da Silva, Anders; Coombs, Geoffrey W; Daley, Denise; Pang, Stanley; Mowlaboccus, Shakeel; Stinear, Tim; Hegstad, Kristin; Howden, Benjamin P; Sundsfjord, Arnfinn. Reversible vancomycin susceptibility within emerging ST1421 Enterococcus faecium strains is associated with rearranged vanA-gene clusters and increased vanA plasmid copy number. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 2023

Uddin, Md Jalal; Overkleeft, Hermen S.; Lentz, Christian Stephan. Activity-Based Protein Profiling in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Reveals the Broad Reactivity of a Carmofur-Derived Probe. ChemBioChem 2023

Lindbæk M, Sundsfjord A. Improving antibiotic prescribing for uncomplicated UTIs. BMJ 2023 

Bargheet, Ahmed; Klingenberg, Claus Andreas; Esaiassen, Eirin; Hjerde, Erik; Cavanagh, Jorunn Pauline; Bengtsson-Palme, Johan; Pettersen, Veronika K.. Development of early life gut resistome and mobilome across gestational ages and microbiota-modifying treatments. EBioMedicine 2023

Antunes de Sousa, Alexandra Sofia; Borøy, Vegard; Bæverud, Agnethe Hansen; Julin, Kjersti; Bayer, Annette; Strøm, Morten B.; Johannessen, Mona Susan; Skalko Basnet, Natasa; Obuobi, Sybil Akua Okyerewa. Polymyxin B stabilized DNA micelles for sustained antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against P. aeruginosa. Journal of materials chemistry. B 2023


Our popular science outreach

Ny forskning kan stoppe fryktet sykehus-bakterie

Enterokokker er bakterienes «dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde»

How beneficial bacteria can help premature babies thrive

Bacteria hide their resistance – a challenge for diagnostics

Hunting microbes event for families at national science week, Northern Norwegian science center



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