Abdul Alim Al-Bari Poster 2023

Abdul Alim Al-Bari

Professor Abdul Alim Al-Bari

University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Professor in Pharmacy

Immune modulation of autophagy represents a promising strategy for host-directed therapy against mycobacteria

Poster Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in humans worldwide. Although multiple antibiotics therapy is necessary to prevent the development of drug resistance, the long-term treatment regimen combined with toxicity of drugs contributes to patient non-compliance for therapy completion. Treatment of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) is extremely challenging due to the virulence of the etiologic strains of Mtb and the aberrant host immune responses. In addition, the existence of comorbid conditions, including HIV, Covid-19 infections or diabetes not only complicates TB treatment but also elevates the mortality rate. These facts underscore the need for the development of new effective drugs and/or improved TB therapeutic approaches for targeting both Mtb and host factors to improve the clinical management outcomes of MDR-TB/ XDR-TB. Counteracting these mycobacteria‐induced host-modifying mechanisms can be accomplished by host‐directed therapy (HDT) strategies. One of the promising HDT interventions in TB is based on inducing autophagy as an immune effector. Autophagy is a cell-autonomous host defense mechanism by which intracytoplasmic cargos can be delivered and then destroyed in lysosomes. Previous studies have reported that autophagy-activating agents like small molecules provide beneficial in restricting intracellular Mtb infection, even with multidrug-resistant Mtb strains. However, current knowledge and clinical evidence is insufficient to implement HDT molecules as a stand-alone, without adjunct antibiotics, therapeutic modality to treat any form of TB in humans. In this meeting, I will present the recent findings on small molecule HDT agents that target autophagy as adjunctive agents along with standard antibiotics. I will also discuss examples of potentially promising HDT strategies aimed at improving the host response to Mtb.

Biography

Dr. Al-Bari is currently engaged as Professor, Department of Pharmacy, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He has finished his research work as a Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China and as a Postdoctoral Professional Fellow, University of East London, Stratford Campus, United Kingdom. He also served as an Associate Professor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He has obtained Ph.D. Degree in Department of Cell Signaling, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Japan since 2012. He has also supervised research activities of M. Pharm., M. Phil. and Ph.D. students. He was awarded with ‘Madar Bux Hall Gold Medal’ for securing first class in the B. Pharm. (Honours) Examination; ‘National Science & Information and Communication Technology (N.S.I.C.T) Fellowship’ (2002-2003) for new Streptomyces species; Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship (2008-2012), and Advance I Super Student (AISS), GCOE Program of International Research Center for Molecular Science in Tooth and Bone Diseases, TMDU (2009-2012), Commonwealth Professional Fellowship (2016-2017) . He is an author for 60 peer reviewed publications.

Research Interests

  • Pharmacological modulation of Autophagy
  • Drug Discovery (antibiotics and probiotics)
  • Cell Signaling
  • Bone Biology
  • Molecular Biology of Cells