Bats are known as natural hosts for highly pathogenic viruses such as MERS- and SARS-related coronaviruses, as well as the Marburg and Nipah viruses. In contrast to the severe and often fatal disease outcomes these viruses cause in humans, bats generally do not show obvious signs of viral illness following infection. An international research team led by Dr. Max Kellner and Prof. Josef Penninger, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), has developed an innovative organoid research platform that allowed them to closely investigate the cellular antiviral defense mechanisms of mucosal epithelial tissues of bats. The results have now been published in Nature Immunology and could pave the way for the development of new therapies against viral diseases.

Natural products are among the most promising candidates for the development of new drugs. However, due to their structural complexity, they are often difficult to access. A team headed by Tobias Gulder from the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now developed new synthetic strategies for the class of polycyclic tetramate macrolactams (PoTeMs), a group of natural products with a broad spectrum of biological activities. In addition to chemical synthesis, enzymatic catalysis and genetic engineering approaches were used. The strategies established in this way not only allow PoTeMs to be produced in large quantities, but also to modify their carbon structure and thus their pharmaceutical properties. The researchers published their results in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, among others.

Influenza viruses are among the most likely triggers of future pandemics. A research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has developed a method that can be used to study the interaction of viruses with host cells in unprecedented detail. With the help of their new development, they have also analyzed how novel influenza viruses use alternative receptors to enter target cells. The results were recently published in two papers in the journal Nature Communications.