Assemble Against Resistance
United Nations predicts 10 million annual deaths due to drug resistant bacterial infections by 2050. The key to solving this might be at our fingertips. In fact, we all express small antimicrobial proteins which keep us healthy and control our microflora. These small proteins assemble and fall apart, but the dynamics are unknown. The complex has low toxicity and high stability, while single proteins are enzymatically fragile but believed to possess the main antibacterial activity. We will use high energy X-ray and neutron beams to study the molecular dynamics behind protein aggregation and disassembly. By understanding the molecular mechanisms involved, we believe it would be possible to create more potent mimics of these proteins, thus harnessing their antibacterial potential. Thus, by exploiting their ability to assemble and solubilize, we expect to be able to develop novel treatment options against bacterial strains which have acquired resistance to our conventional antibiotics.
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Imported from OpenAIRE | Grant NNF23OC0083282.
Open sourceOverview
Grant agreement NNF23OC0083282
Open sourceUnited Nations predicts 10 million annual deaths due to drug resistant bacterial infections by 2050. The key to solving this might be at our fingertips. In fact, we all express small antimicrobial proteins which keep us healthy and control our microflora. These small proteins assemble and fall apart, but the dynamics are unknown. The complex has low toxicity and high stability, while single proteins are enzymatically fragile but believed to possess the main antibacterial activity. We will use high energy X-ray and neutron beams to study the molecular dynamics behind protein aggregation and disassembly. By understanding the molecular mechanisms involved, we believe it would be possible to create more potent mimics of these proteins, thus harnessing their antibacterial potential. Thus, by exploiting their ability to assemble and solubilize, we expect to be able to develop novel treatment options against bacterial strains which have acquired resistance to our conventional antibiotics.