THIS PROJECT CENTERS ON EXPLORING THE EFFICACY OF NON-ANTIBIOTIC BIOTHERAPEUTICS TO CONTROL ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA. ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IS AN EXPANDING PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN, WITH METHICILLIN-RESISTANT S. AUREUS (MRSA) AS A PROMINENT EXAMPLE. IT IS PROPOSED THAT DOMESTIC ANIMALS, INCLUDING THOSE OF AGRICULTURAL IMPORTANCE, CAN FUNCTION AS RESERVOIRS AND SHEDDERS OF MRSA, AND MRSA TRANSMISSION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND HUMANS IN BOTH WAYS HAS BEEN REPORTED.OUR LABORATORY STUDIES THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF EQUINE MESENCHYMAL STROMAL CELLS (MSCS), A TYPE OF ADULT STEM CELLS ISOLATED FROM THE BLOOD OF HORSES, IN EQUINE WOUND MANAGEMENT. A COMMON COMPLICATION OF EQUINE WOUNDS IS INFECTION WITH BACTERIA, SUCH AS MRSA, AND WE RECENTLY FOUND THAT EQUINE MSCS SECRETE FACTORS THAT CAN INHIBIT THE GROWTH OF MRSA.THIS PROJECT WILL WORK ON FURTHER STUDYING THE POTENTIAL OF EQUINE MSC SECRETED FACTORS TO CONTROL MRSA. THE SPECIFIC SCIENCE OBJECTIVES ARE TO IDENTIFY WHICH SPECIFIC MSC SECRETED FACTORS EXHIBIT THE ANTI-MRSA ACTIVITY AND HOW THEY CAN BE DELIVERED EFFECTIVELY TO THE SKIN. MOREOVER, THE EFFICACY OF MSC SECRETED FACTORS TO CONTROL MRSA WILL BE EXAMINED IN VIVO IN HORSES WITH INFECTED WOUNDS.ONCE WE UNDERSTAND HOW EQUINE MSC EXERT THEIR ANTI-MRSA EFFECTS, WE CAN DEVELOP EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES TO (I) CONTROL MRSA INFECTIONS IN HORSES AND REDUCE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF THESE INFECTIONS IN HORSES, (II) PREVENT TRANSMISSION OF MRSA FROM HORSES TO HUMANS, AND (II) DECREASE THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS BY USING THESE MSC-DERIVED SECRETED FACTORS AS A NON-ANTIBIOTIC BIOTHERAPEUTIC TO CONTROL ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA, NOT ONLY IN VETERINARY MEDICINE BUT POTENTIALLY ALSO IN HUMAN MEDICINE.