Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

Design, Synthesis, and Preliminary Investigation on the Mode of Action for a Series of Novel Antimicrobial Peptidomimetics

Abstract Over the years, many antibiotics have been developed, but most have become less effective due to antimicrobial resistance, especially those targeting enzymatic pathways. This growing resistance poses a serious global health threat. It is now recognized that physically di...

Safety and pharmacokinetics of inhaled aloxistatin: A first‐in‐human phase 1 dose escalation trial

Aims Aloxistatin (E64d) is a membrane‐permeable cysteine protease inhibitor prodrug that is converted by esterases to the active metabolite E64c (loxistatin). This first‐in‐human study evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of single ascending doses of inhaled E6...

Dynamic tRNA modification programs align codon usage with growth-phase-specific gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Post-transcriptional transfer RNA (tRNA) modifications dynamically regulate translational capacity, yet whether the tRNA epitranscriptome is temporally coordinated with gene expression programs during bacterial growth remains unknown. Here, we combine time-resolved nanopore tRNA...

Persisting Region‐Specific Microglia Activation and Synaptic Imbalance During Remission in a DSS ‐Induced Colitis Model

Ulcerative colitis (UC) patients experience cycles of active gut inflammation and remission, with neuropsychiatric comorbidities persisting even during clinical remission. While the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) mouse model was previously applied to study gut-brain interactions, t...

Arp2/3 complex-dependent actin remodeling is required for efficient RSV uncoating in A549 cells

ABSTRACT Productive human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cell entry requires coordinated interactions between viral proteins and host-cell factors at the plasma membrane-actin cortex interface. Branched actin networks remodel this interface, but their precise contribution to t...

MEmilio: a high performance Modular EpideMIcs simuLatIOn software for multi-scale and comparative simulations of infectious disease dynamics

Abstract Epidemic and pandemic preparedness with rapid outbreak response rely on timely, trustworthy evidence. Mathematical models are crucial for supporting timely and reliable evidence generation for public health decision-making with models spanning approaches from compartment...

The zlog value: a decade of standardizing laboratory results

Abstract Background The zlog transformation was developed in 2016 as a method-independent and unit-independent standardization of laboratory results for the German Electronic Health Record (ePA). Based on the assumption of a log-normal distribution and the known lower and upper r...

Mechanistic insights into phage dynamics to overcome intracellular bacterial reservoirs in urinary tract infections

Abstract Recurrent urinary tract infections frequently arise from uropathogenic bacteria invading bladder epithelial cells, where they establish persistent intracellular reservoirs. Phages represent a promising therapeutic alternative to antibiotics owing to their host specificit...

Synthesis and Activity‐Based Protein Profiling Identifies Aldo‐Keto Reductase 1C3 as Target Protein of Myxoglucamides

ABSTRACT Myxoglucamides, natural products recently isolated from Cystobacterineae sp., are featured by an unprecedented vinyl‐substituted α‐keto‐γ‐amino acid that is linked to a glycosylated 14‐methyl‐pentadecanoic acid. Thus, they unite elements from three biomolecular classes i...