Development of Membrane Active Artificial Foldamers

Description of the research topic

Development of resistance by bacteria to antibiotics makes design of novel antimicrobial compounds increasingly important. As persistent cells often become slow-growing or dormant, strategies targeting their membrane are becoming more relevant. Toxic oligomers may assemble into hydrophilic or lipophilic sheet rich barrel constructs. However, this mechanism is not understood, greatly hindering rational development of similar compounds. To approach this problem, we aim to design and study foldamer oligomer assemblies. We hope to define the fundamentals of how peptide – lipid bilayer interactions govern formation of potentially toxic oligomers at a molecular level. This may be exploited for developing new antimicrobial compounds. Foldamers are highly similar to natural peptides in terms of structural diversity, thus they are ideal model systems, in several cases showing antibiotic activity and enzyme resistance. The structures will be designed with theoretical (QM&MD) tools and studied with experimental methods in model membranes. We plan to use X-ray scattering methods (SAXS,WAXS) and polarized light spectroscopy. The synthetic part is planned to be carried out at our collaborating partner in Göteborg, Sweden. Applicant is expected to travel there for several shorter times to perform project related tasks.

Thesis supervisor: Tamás Beke-Somfai

Required language skills: English
Recommended language skills: Hungarian

How to Apply?

If you are interested apply here: [PhD] György Hevesy Doctoral School of Chemistry – Eötvös Loránd University (elte.hu)

For more information visite the following website: György Hevesy Doctoral School of Chemistry (elte.hu)

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