This project prepares the preclinical development of the semi-synthetic chlorotonil derivative dehalogenil for the treatment of bacterial infections caused by Gram-positive pathogens. Dehalogenil impresses with its potent and very rapid antibacterial effect, which is triggered by membrane depolarization and potassium efflux. Further studies on the mechanism of action have revealed [...]

Gram-negative bacteria are naturally insensitive to many antibiotics due to their additional outer membrane. In addition, the bacteria have acquired resistance to clinically used antibiotics in recent decades, resulting in multidrug-resistant bacteria. Novel classes of antibiotics are needed to counteract these existing resistance mechanisms. However, no new antibiotic class against [...]

In the current WHO list of bacterial priority pathogens (WHO BPPL 2024), the World Health Organisation classifies carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria as a high-priority pathogen, which means there is an urgent need for new anti-infectives to combat this problematic bacterium. To address this need, the PAFAP project has brought together a [...]

The PAACT project (short for: Precision Access to Antibiotic Compounds and Targets) serves as a hub within the DZIF for the discovery and characterisation of new antibacterial agents and lead structures. In the context of the project, the development pipeline of antibiotic candidates is continuously fed [...]

More than 21 million people in Africa are infected with the threadworm Onchocerca volvulus, the pathogen causing river blindness. About one in ten of those affected goes blind. What is needed are active agents that kill the long-lived adult worms. With Corallopyronin A, DZIF scientists have found an active [...]

The challenge of antibiotic drug development today is the discovery and optimisation of novel bioactive compounds that do not show cross-resistances with clinically applied antibiotics, ideally due to a novel mode of action (MoA) which adresses unexploited microbial targets. In the case of chelocardin, this antibiotic substance was identified several [...]