OUR MISSION

The elevated prevalence of drug resistant microorganisms worldwide has become one of the major public health threats of current times. The tuberculosis (TB)-causing mycobacteria, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), like Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) or the life-threatening pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii are representatives of multi- and pan drug-resistant superbugs. While Mab is responsible for severe respiratory, skin and mucosal infections in humans and often regarded as one of the most antibiotic-resistant mycobacteria, A. baumannii causes infections of the skin and soft tissue, urinary tract infections, meningitis, bacteremia, and pneumonia. We are interested in relationships between the structure and mechanism(s) of mycobacterial enzymes related to bioenergetics, stress response and coenzyme A biosynthesis and of the energy converter, F-ATP synthase of A. baumannii. The team uses a variety of molecular biology, protein chemistry, structural, biochemical and biophysical approaches, paving the way for new structures, -targets, novel or improved inhibitors and lead compounds, whose potencies are studied on mycobacterial and heterologous strains.