Newsroom

Portrait Silke Tannapfel
News
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.
02.10.2017
Kristallstruktur des Proteins PqsA
News
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.
12.09.2017
Christopher Baum
Interview
The Hannover Medical School (MHH) has seen a great deal of change over the past few years: The school has recently undergone a phase of economic consolidation which also included a change of leadership. Prof Christopher Baum took over the role of President from Prof Dieter Bitter-Suermann four years ago – and inherited a whole host of collaboration projects with the HZI in the process. Christopher Baum spoke to InFact about the developments at the MHH and his plans for expanding the partnership with the HZI.
05.09.2017
gut mucosa
Story
Over the past few years, public awareness of the microbial communities in our gut has grown significantly – partially thanks to Giulia Enders' book "Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body's Most Under-Rated Organ". Scientific studies on antibiotics and the microbiota have also attracted attention: The use of these products is hypothesised to disrupt the sensitive inhabitants of our intestine and may cause serious damage. So how can we protect our gut flora against this?
04.09.2017
Biofilm eines klinischen Isolates von Pseudomonas aeruginosa
News
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.
18.08.2017
 komplexe Proteinstruktur
News
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.
15.08.2017

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transkript

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

 

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