Dr. Wael Elhenawy, a microbiologist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is looking to disarm the bad guys – the disease-causing gut microorganisms that contribute to the development of Crohn’s disease.
These sneaky bad guys drive inflammation of the intestinal wall by sticking to each other and to the cells on the surface of the small and large intestines. They then embed themselves in a sugar-based coating, known as biofilm, which protects them from antibiotic treatments designed to kill bacteria and reduce inflammation.
Dr. Elhenawy says:
“If we can find something that disarms these bacteria from their ability to form biofilms, then we’ve gone a long way in tackling the ability of this bug to persist in the gut and drive the flares.”
The bug Dr. Elhenawy and his team are studying is a specific strain of the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), which is commonly found in our intestines and is usually beneficial. But the strain on which they are focusing belongs to a group that can cause disease. Strains from this group are frequently isolated from Crohn’s patients and are believed to propel gut inflammation.
As part of their work, he and his team are looking ahead to potential treatments that will be more effective than the antibiotics currently used: “The problem with antibiotics is that they kill a lot of the good bacteria in the gut. We know that these good bacteria are pivotal to the host health. What we’re trying to do is come up with better antimicrobial drugs, more selective drugs.”
He continues: “Our overarching goal is to, instead of administering antibiotics, administer drugs that can specifically target the bad guys in the gut.”
Those selective drugs would break through the biofilms and eliminate the underlying bacteria associated with gut inflammation. In collaboration with other teams, they are identifying new bacterial targets and potential drugs that block their action.
The hope for better treatment has been years in the making and is tied with Dr. Elhenawy’s research journey. He received his doctorate in microbiology at the University of Alberta in 2015, working on good gut bacteria and how they promote health. His curiosity was teased, and he turned to working on bad gut bacteria, this time at McMaster University in Hamilton.
He returned to the University of Alberta in 2021 and received University funding to set up his laboratory, focusing on biofilms: “We knew about biofilms for a long time, but not many people were looking specifically into biofilm formation by Crohn's-associated bacteria. We’re among the groups that really took a deep dive into this.”
In 2023, he was awarded a 2023-2026 Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Grants-in-aid (GIA) of research grant for $375,000 to help his work as an early career researcher.
He says:
“2023 was the perfect moment to receive the GIA and I was able to expand the group and our work before getting to testing on humans. The GIA is mainly used to understand why the biofilms are protecting the bacteria from immune clearance. Also, how are the bacteria sensing that they are in the right environment to start making these biofilms?”
He continues: “The GIA was pivotal for my lab to pick up momentum and for my research program to take off. As an early career investigator, these funds were crucial to help me recruit my crew and support our expensive work before getting to testing on humans. It gave me the confidence to expand and recruit more people. We managed to leverage these funds to generate lots of data.”
Dr. Elhenawy has high hopes that he and his team are on the path to find ways to disarm the disease-causing gut microorganisms in the gut that cause Crohn’s flares.
Dr. Elhenawy describes his research project funded by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada