News Schambony group

Vaccines and other medicines are often packed in little fat droplets, or lipids. In this form, they are absorbed by cells and release their “cargo” once they are there. The trigger is a change in the pH value in the droplet’s surroundings. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have now created a computer simulation of what exactly happens. Their findings may help to optimize the release of the active substances. The results have been published in the journal “Small”*.

A team led by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has made a significant breakthrough in the fight against global hunger. The researchers have succeeded in genetically modifying the tropical cassava plant (Manihot esculenta) to provide significantly greater yields and also to become more resistant to drought. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Nature Plants.

The newly established Junior Research Group for Bacterial Interface Dynamics led by Dr. Cláudia Vilhena and hosted by the Chair of Pharmaceutical Biology, has recently received support from two foundations to advance and sediment the research on bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs).

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for the research project: „Unraveling the Membrane-Selective Mechanism of Lugdunin: Insights into Specificity for Gram-Positive Bacteria and Antimicrobial Activity.“ This study is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Computational Biology group at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, led by Prof. Dr. Rainer Böckmann, and the group of Prof. Dr. Claudia Steinem at the University of Göttingen.

When we think about bacteria, we may imagine single cells swimming in solution. However, similarly to humans, bacterial cells often socialize, using surfaces to coalesce into complex heterogeneous communities called biofilms. Within a group, bacteria in the biofilm are extremely robust in resisting various environmental stresses – a crucial feature making biofilm-associated infections extremely difficult to treat with antibiotics.