The present invention relates to the discovery, identification and characterization of toxic agents which are lethal to pathogens and methods for targeting such toxic agents to a
pathogen or
pathogen infected cells in order to treat and / or eradicate the infection. In particular, the present invention relates to toxic agents which target
bacteria at different stages of the bacterial life cycle, which are delivered alone or in combination to
bacteria or
bacteria-infected cells. The invention relates to toxic agents which are lethal to diseased cells and methods for targeting such toxic agents to a diseased
cell in order to treat and / or eradicate the
disease. The present invention relates to
promoter elements which are
pathogen-specific or tissue-specific and the use of such
promoter elements to achieve pathogen-specific or tissue-specific expression of the toxic agent(s) and / or
ribozyme(s) of the present invention. Specifically, the invention relates to the delivery of one or more toxic
gene products, antisense RNAs, or ribozymes, or combination thereof. The invention provides a novel
system by which multiple pathogenic targets may be simultaneously targeted to cause the death of a pathogen, or
cell infected with a pathogen. Further, the invention has important implications in the eradication of
drug-resistant bacterium and bacterial pathogens. The invention provides a novel
system by which multiple targets may be simultaneously targeted to cause the death of a diseased
cell. The invention also has important implications in the eradication of
drug-resistant pathogens and
drug-resistant diseased cells (such as
cancer cells).