Three FAU scientists have received a Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). One of them is Gregor Fuhrmann, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at the Department of Biology. In this project, which is funded with €150,000, he aims to produce nanocapsules derived from bacteria and load them with antibiotics.

This work addresses the fact that antibiotic resistance has risen rapidly in recent decades, claiming an estimated 1.3 million lives annually worldwide. Consequently, research is not only focused on developing new antibiotics but also on strategies to deliver them precisely to different sites within the body.

Gregor Fuhrmann, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at FAU, is focusing on using myxobacteria for this purpose. The ground-dwelling bacteria create a number of natural substances that have an antibiotic effect. “Our idea is to stimulate myxobacteria to produce active substances that fight specific pathogenic germs,” says Fuhrmann.

At the same time, Fuhrmann is working on transporting the new antibiotics with specially developed “taxis”. “The idea is not new, but synthetically produced capsules are often not biocompatible, are rapidly cleared from the bloodstream, and lack precision in targeting.” In order to tackle these problems, Fuhrmann intends packaging the antibiotics in nanocapsules produced by the myxobacteria themselves: extracellular vesicles. These are tiny particles surrounded by a lipid membrane that are also released by cells in the body and that act as natural transporters for messenger substances.

“This property means that the vesicles are not rejected by the body, and are also capable of interacting selectively with the target cells,” Gregor Fuhrmann explains. “This may prove a major step on the path towards personalized therapies.”

Contact