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Many active substances used in medicine are based on naturally occurring products. However, the producers of these substances often do not grow or grow poorly under laboratory conditions. This also applies to marine invertebrates such as sponges, which live in close association with bacteria. Aided by synthetic biology, complex natural substances can also be engineered in the laboratory independently from their natural producers. For the scientific work on natural products from marine sources, the Friends of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Braunschweig are awarding Prof Jörn Piel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland, the Inhoffen Medal 2023. The award ceremony took place on 8 June 2023 at the HZI in Braunschweig.

Antibiotics affect the composition and dynamics of the gut microbiome. Treatment with antibiotics not only leads to a loss of biodiversity of microorganisms, but also often favours the selection of resistant strains of bacteria. It has been unclear how the microbiome responds to repeated antibiotic therapy. In a preclinical study, an international research team led by two scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig used metagenome and cultivation analyses to identify evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to the resilience of the microbial community after repeated antibiotic administration. The corresponding authors Prof Bärbel Stecher (LMU) and Prof Alice McHardy (HZI) both also conduct research at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). The study has now been published in the renowned scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.

It was previously believed that herpesviruses use certain body cells to replicate and other body cells to remain dormant, that is to remain inactive for a longer period of time. This dogma is now being questioned using the example of cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpesvirus from the beta-herpesvirus subfamily, which can be fatal in immunocompromised transplant recipients. In a new study, scientists from the “Viral Immunology” department at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have discovered that certain connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) are not only used by CMV for replication, as previously assumed. Apparently, CMV can also remain latent in the fibroblasts. The prevailing picture of an either/or - either the CMV uses a certain type of body cell for proliferation, or it remains in an inactive state there - is therefore no longer tenable. A second paradigm shift suggested by the study is the regulation of the CMV latency in cells: Apparently, the virus controls the use of fibroblasts as sites of latent or active infection not only via factors present in the cell, but also via an interaction with the immune system. The results were published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

A team led by bioinformatics experts Andreas Keller and Fabian Kern from Saarland University together with researchers at Stanford University have gained new insights into manifestations of ageing at the molecular level. They found that the process of reading genetic information does not run as smoothly in older individuals as it does in those who are younger. These changes in the transcription process are due to particular RNA molecules that influence the activity of individual genes and thus determine which proteins the body produces – something which can have a huge impact on the body's metabolism. Their research has now been published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) folds into complex structures which allow it to interact specifically with other molecules in the cell. In HIV-1, minute differences in RNA folding can be crucial in determining whether viral RNA is “packaged” and thus leads to viral replication. This has now been discovered by researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg by enhancing a method used to study RNA structure with a novel sequencing technology. Their findings could help to design new antivirals and were published today in the journal Nature Methods.

Infections with Clostridioides difficile (for short: C. difficile) are often recurrent, because dormant stages of the bacterium persist in the intestine. Thus far, there was no drug that can effectively combat the dormant stages as well. A current One Health study led by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) now shows that a natural product called chlorotonil A can do just that. The study was conducted in close cooperation with the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), a site of the HZI in collaboration with Saarland University, Greifswald University and the Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH. The research team hopes that chlorotonil A will be a candidate drug that might significantly reduce the risk of reinfection with C. difficile in the future. The study was published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.