Infection Biology

An interdisciplinary approach offers a broad spectrum of state-of-the-art methods for the identification and validation of novel anti-infectives. There is a focus on the identification of small molecules which target proteins in bacteria, viruses, and parasites up to Risk Group 2. We rely on our own expertise and infrastructure and expand our offering by collaborating with local research institutes providing access to complementary technology, such as the CSSB (Centre for Structural Systems Biology) and DESY (German Electron Synchrotron).

If necessary, proteins can be produced at the Protein Production Core Facility (PPCF) and characterized at the Protein Characterization Facilities (SPC) of the CSSB at DESY. At ITMP these proteins are starting points for biochemical and biophysical characterization or the development of cell-based assays and can be applied for screening against the available compound libraries.

Service offering:

• Development of biochemical assays in 96 and 384 well format using the common screening technologies
• Access to a wide range of compound libraries ready for screening in high-throughput format.
• Virtual Screening using ligand- and structure-based methods
• In-vitro toxicity assays for determining the cytotoxic potential, CYP inhibition, and PXR induction
• Affinity measurement using different methods (Spectral Shift, MST, ITC; others in cooperation with the CSSB)
• Microbiological screening using a broad panel of bacterial strains (S1 and S2)
• Structural biology (in cooperation with DESY and CSSB)