PULLMAN — Washington State University researchers may have found a way to trick bacteria into sending messages that make it easier to kill them, according to a WSU press release.

“The discovery could someday be harnessed as an alternative to antibiotics for treating difficult infections,” the press release said.

Mawra Gamal Saad, WSU graduate student and first author on a paper describing the discovery, said bacterial cells are adaptable and can use their adaptive skills to resist antibiotics. 

“Adding the death extracellular vesicles to the bacterial environment, we are kind of cheating the bacteria cells,” Saad said. “The cells don’t know which type of EV they are, but they take them up because they are used to taking them from their environment. And with that, the physiological signals inside the cells change from growth to death.”

“The vesicles shuttle molecules from the cells, entering and then reprogramming neighboring cells and acting as a cell-to-cell communications system,” the release said.

Initially, the vesicles are told to grow, and eventually to stop. Researchers determined how to tell the vesicles to stop, which then killed the cells. 

“By cheating the bacteria with these death EVs, we can control their behavior without giving them the chance to develop resistance,” Saad said. 

Saad and corresponding author Wen-Ji Dong, a WSU professor, have applied for funding to continue their research, the press release said.