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Effective 1 October 2017 Silke Tannapfel assumed the responsibilities of the Administrative Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig. The former head of the Division for Extramural Research Support and Cross-state Bodies in the Bavarian State Ministry for Economy and Media, Energy and Technology based in Munich is the successor to Franziska Broer, who was appointed Executive Manager of the Helmholtz Association in August of last year.

Pathogenic bacteria are becoming resistant to common antibiotics to an ever increasing degree. One of the most difficult germs is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a pathogen that elicits serious infections in humans and is resistant to a range of antibiotics. Researchers are therefore actively looking for targets for alternative agents that attenuate the bacteria. Pseudomonads can survive in so-called biofilms, which are dense constructs in which the individual bacteria are protected from the immune system and medications. In order to be able to produce a biofilm, the bacteria first have to communicate with each other by means of chemical signals. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig determined the three-dimensional structure of a protein that is involved in the production of the signaling molecules. Based on this structure, it is now possible to model perfectly fitting inhibitory substances that interrupt the signaling pathway to render the bacteria "mute". The scientists published their results in the international journal ChemBioChem.

Chronic lung infections caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa require complex and, in most cases, long-term treatment with antibiotics. It is generally not possible to completely heal the infection or even significantly reduce the bacterial load—new medication is badly needed. Scientists at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) are now improving an anti-infective active ingredient with a new mode of action. The starting point is a substance that can block the pathogenicity of the bacterium and weaken its protective biofilm. The Helmholtz Validation Fund, the DZIF and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are contributing a joint investment of 2.7 million euros to improve this class of substance, aiming to achieve a preclinical candidate.

To be able to develop new drugs against infectious diseases researchers need to understand their molecular basis. How does the proliferation of a pathogen proceed, what interactions take place between it and the host cell and how are these processes regulated? For this purpose, protein-RNA complexes are examined. They play an important role at different times in the lifecycle of the pathogen or the host cell and are thus involved in infection processes. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the Leibniz Universität Hannover, the EMBL Heidelberg and the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research at Utrecht University have now developed an integrated structure analysis platform that is able to very simply and effectively calculate the structure of large protein-RNA complexes on the basis of diverse experimental data. The so-called “M3 Framework” is available free of charge for researchers from academic institutes. The researchers published their results in the scientific journal Nature Methods.

Stem cells in the bone marrow provide a life-long supply of blood and immune cells. If they display defects – either caused by hereditary diseases or blood cancer – the transplantation of bone marrow cells of a suitable donor is often the only therapeutic option. To avoid rejection of the transplanted stem cells, the patients immune response needs to be dampened. The consequence: Bacteria and viruses have an easy time. Especially infections with the highly prevalent Cytomegalovirus are a leading cause of clinical complications – ranging from graft rejection to life-threatening disease. Scientists of TWINCORE and the German Cancer Research Center have now switched prespective: They investigated the influence of virus infections of bone marrow donors on the success of a transplantation. Their – striking – results were recently published in „Cell Reports“.