Julia Bandow

Ruhr-Universität Bochum | RUB · Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology

Resistance to vancomycin, a life-saving drug against Gram-positive bacterial infections necessitates developing alternative therapeutics. Herein, we report vancomycin derivatives that assimilate mechanisms beyond d-Ala-d-Ala binding. The role of hydrophobicity towards the structure and function of the membrane-active vancomycin showed that alkyl-ca...

Current research is focusing on ribosome heterogeneity as a response to changing environmental conditions and stresses. Altered stoichiometry and composition of ribosomal proteins as well as association of additional protein factors are mechanisms for shaping the protein expression profile or hibernating ribosomes. In this updated chapter, we prese...

To address the mounting resistance challenge, novel antibiotics and unprecedented mechanisms of action are urgently needed. In this context, metals have attracted attention in two distinct ways: First, the bacterial metal ion homeostasis is essential for many cellular processes, making it a putatively lucrative antibiotic target. Metal ions are, fo...

Ion homeostasis is a fundamental regulator of cellular processes and depends upon lipid membranes, which function as ion permeability barriers. Ionophores facilitate ion transport across cell membranes and offer a way to manipulate cellular ion composition. Here, we describe a calcein quenching assay based on large unilamellar vesicles that we used...

Aims: Actinobacteria are known to produce extracellular enzymes including DyPs. We set out to identify and characterize novel peroxidases from Streptomyces chartreusis NRRL 3882, because S. chartreusis belongs to the small group of actinobacteria with three different DyPs. Methods and results: The genome of the actinomycete Streptomyces chartreu...

Ionophores are small molecules or peptides that transport metal ions across biological membranes. Their transport capabilities are typically characterized in vitro using vesicles and single ion species. It is difficult to infer from these data which effects ionophores have on living cells in a complex environment (e.g. culture medium), since net io...

Under physiological conditions, Escherichia coli RidA is an enamine/imine deaminase, which promotes the release of ammonia from reactive enamine/imine intermediates. However, when modified by hypochlorous acid (HOCl), it turns into a potent chaperone-like holdase that can effectively protect E. coli's proteome during oxidative stress. However, it i...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is among the highest priority pathogens for drug development, because of its resistance to antibiotics, extraordinary adaptability, and persistence. Anti-pseudomonal research is strongly encouraged to address the acute scarcity of innovative antimicrobial lead structures. In an effort to understand the physiological response...

Under physiological conditions, Escherichia coli RidA is an enamine/imine deaminase, which promotes the release of ammonia from reactive enamine/imine intermediates. However, when modified by hypochlorous acid (HOCl), as produced by the host defense, RidA HOCl turns into a potent chaperone-like holdase that can effectively protect the proteome of E...

Streptomyces chartreusis NRRL 3882 produces the polyether ionophore calcimycin and a variety of analogs, which originate from the same biosynthetic gene cluster. The role of calcimycin and its analogs for the producer is unknown, but calcimycin has strong antibacterial activity. Feeding experiments were performed in chemically defined medium system...

A series of ruthenium(II) complexes with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands of the general type (arene)(NHC)Ru(II)X2 (where X = halide) was prepared, characterized, and evaluated as antibacterial agents in comparison to the respective metal free benzimidazolium cations. The ruthenium(II) NHC complexes generally triggered stronger bacterial growth...

Lipolytic enzymes are produced by animals, plants and microorganisms. With their chemo-, regio-, and enantio-specific characteristics, lipolytic enzymes are important biocatalysts useful in several industrial applications. They are widely used in the processing of fats and oils, detergents, food processing, paper and cosmetics production. In this w...

New antibiotics are urgently needed to address the mounting resistance challenge. In early drug discovery one of the bottlenecks is the elucidation of targets and mechanisms. To accelerate antibiotic research, we provide a proteomic approach for the rapid classification of compounds into those with precedented and unprecedented modes of action. We...

A molecular‐level understanding of the effects of atmospheric‐pressure plasma on biological samples requires knowledge of the effects on proteins. Superoxide dismutases, which detoxify superoxide under oxidative stress conditions, play a key role in bacterial plasma resistance. Investigation of the impact of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) treat...

Allicin, a broad‐spectrum antimicrobial agent from garlic, disrupts thiol and redox homeostasis, proteostasis, and cell membrane integrity. Since medicine demands antimicrobials with so far unexploited mechanisms, allicin is a promising lead structure. While progress is being made in unraveling its mode of action, little is known on bacterial adapt...

Pine Wilt Disease (PWD) is caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the pinewood nematode, and affects several species of pine trees worldwide. The ecosystem of the Pinus pinaster trees was investigated as a source of bacteria producing metabolites affecting this ecosystem: P. pinaster trees as target-plant, nematode as disease effector and its insect...

Non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasmas are an alternative means to sterilize and disinfect. Plasma-mediated protein aggregation has been identified as one of the mechanisms responsible for the antibacterial features of plasma. Heat shock protein 33 (Hsp33) is a chaperone with holdase function that is activated when oxidative stress and unfold...

A simple "click-chemistry" approach was employed in order to functionalize the known antibiotic fragment sulfanilamide with a bidentate pyridyl-triazole pocket, which allowed for the synthesis of ruthenium(II) and rhenium(I) carbonyl chloride complexes. Six new complexes were prepared and comprehensively characterized, including five single crystal...

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas are investigated as augmenting therapy to combat bacterial infections. The strong antibacterial effects of plasmas are attributed to the complex mixture of reactive species, (V)UV radiation and electric fields. The experience with antibiotics is that upon their introduction as medicines, resistance occurs in...

Acyclic diaminocarbenes (ADACs) are ambiphilic, which makes them suitable for the activation of fundamentally important small molecules. For example, most of them react with CO under mild conditions. Unfortunately, such high reactivity is accompanied by limited thermal stability, leading to their decomposition at room temperature or below. The new...

Four new acyclic diaminocarbenes (ADACs), viz. [(cyclo‐CnH2n − 1)2N]2C (n = 5 – 7) and iPr2N−C−N(cyclo‐C6H11)2, were synthesised by reacting the corresponding formamidinium hexafluorophosphates with NaN(SiMe3)2. Their nucleophilicities and electrophilicities were respectively judged from the 1JCH values determined for the N2CH unit of the correspon...

Organometallic N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes with intercalating bisnaphthalimide ligands were prepared and evaluated biologically. Cytotoxic effects against tumor cells or bacteria were strongly ligand dependent with minor influence of the metal (Ag, Ru, Rh, Au) centers. Complex 8b with a rhodium(I) NHC moiety was studied in more detail fo...

Non-equilibrium radio-frequency driven atmospheric-pressure plasma in He/0.6%O2 gas mixture has been used to study the reaction mechanism of plasma-generated oxygen atoms in aqueous solutions. The effluent from the plasma source operated with standard and ¹⁸O-labeled O2 gas was used to treat water in the presence of phenol as a chemical probe. Comp...

Actinomycetes are known for producing diverse secondary metabolites. Combining genomics with untargeted data-dependent tandem MS and molecular networking, we characterized the secreted metabolome of the tunicamycin producerStreptomyces chartreusisNRRL 3882. The genome harbors 128 predicted biosynthetic gene clusters. We detected >1,000 distinct sec...

Bacterial biocatalysts play a key role in our transition to a bio-based, post-petroleum economy. However, the discovery of new biocatalysts is currently limited by our ability to analyze genomic information and our capacity of functionally screening for desired activities. Here, we present a simple workflow that combines functional metaproteomics a...

Current research is focusing on ribosome heterogeneity as a response to changing environmental conditions and stresses, such as antibiotic stress. Altered stoichiometry and composition of ribosomal proteins as well as association of additional protein factors are mechanisms for shaping the protein expression profile or hibernating ribosomes. Here,...

A series of novel Re(I)(CO)3–NHC complexes bearing unsubstituted benzimidazol-2-ylidene ligands as well as a variety of bisimine ligands has been prepared and comprehensively characterised. The complexes were found to exhibit potent antimicrobial activity on Gram-positive bacterial strains in the low micromolar concentration range, rendering these...

The synthetic cyclic hexapeptide cWFW (cyclo(RRRWFW)) has a rapid bactericidal activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Its detailed mode of action has, however, remained elusive. In contrast to most antimicrobial peptides, cWFW neither permeabilizes the membrane nor translocates to the cytoplasm. Using a combination of prote...

Low-pressure plasmas are a promising alternative to modern sterilization processes. As plasma is a surface process, multilayered stacks of spores are a crucial challenge to overcome. Here, a combined process of condensed hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen plasma is analyzed for its efficacy against various spore concentrations showing a clear increase...

Significance To date, simple membrane pore formation resulting in cytoplasmic leakage is the prevailing model for how membrane-active antibiotics kill bacteria and also is one of the main explanations for the activity of the membrane-binding antibiotic daptomycin. However, such models, typically derived from model membrane studies, often depict mem...

Synthetic antimicrobial peptides (SynAMPs) are an interesting class of novel antibiotic agents used to fight infections caused by resistant bacterial strains. Herein we report the synthesis of a ferrocene-containing lysine (FcLys) suitable for standard Fmoc/tBu solid-phase peptide synthesis. A library of (Arg-Trp)3-based antimicrobial peptides have...

RWRWRW-NH2 (MP196) is an amphipathic hexapeptide that targets the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane and inhibits cellular respiration and cell wall synthesis. In previous studies it showed promising activity against Gram-positive bacteria and no significant cytotoxicity or hemolysis. MP196 is therefore used as lead structure for developing more potent...

Peptide dendrimers and derivatisation of peptides with metallocenes showed promising results in the search for new antibacterial agents. The two concepts are combined in this work leading to multivalent, metallocene-containing peptide derivates. These new peptides were synthesised utilizing microwave assisted, copper(I) catalysed alkyne-azide cyclo...

RNases are among the most stable proteins in nature. They even refold spontaneously after heat inactivation, regaining full activity. Due to their stability and universal presence, they often pose a problem when experimenting with RNA. We investigated the capabilities of nonthermal atmospheric-pressure plasmas to inactivate RNase A and studied the...

Importance: Biological nitrogen fixation is a central process in the global nitrogen cycle by which the abundant but chemically inert dinitrogen (N2) is reduced to ammonia (NH3), a bioavailable form of nitrogen. Nitrogen reduction is catalyzed by nitrogenases found in diazotrophic bacteria and archaea, but not in eukaryotes. All diazotrophs synthe...

Antimicrobial peptides are a potent class of antibiotics. In the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis the synthetic peptide RWRWRW-NH2 integrates into the bacterial membrane and delocalizes essential peripheral membrane proteins involved in cell wall biosynthesis and respiration. A lysine residue has been added to the hexapeptide core str...

Peptide dendrimers are a class of molecules of high interest in the search for new antibiotics. We used microwave-assisted, copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC; "click" chemistry) for the simple and versatile synthesis of a new class of multivalent antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) containing solely arginine and tryptophan residues. T...

The mechanism of action of aurein 2.2 and aurein 2.3, antimicrobial peptides from the frog Litoria aurea, was investigated. Proteomic profiling of the Bacillus subtilis stress response indicates that the cell envelope is the main target for both aureins. Upon treatment, the cytoplasmic membrane depolarizes and cellular ATP levels decrease. Global e...

Peptide-conjugates with unsaturated carbon chains form attractive molecules that can contribute to both medicinal chemistry and advanced materials sciences. Here, a convenient Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis method for the preparation of bisarylethyne-conjugates is described. This method allows coupling of a iodo-aryl or aryl-acetylene to...

Cold atmospheric-pressure plasmas have become of increasing importance in sterilization processes especially with the growing prevalence of multi-resistant bacteria. Albeit the potential for technological application is obvious, much less is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial inactivation. X-jet technology separates plasma-ge...

Multivalent display of identical ultrashort (only 2–3 amino acids long) antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) was used in order to create potential new antimicrobial agents. A series of small synthetic arginine and tryptophan containing peptides was synthesized and covalently bound to two different trivalent scaffold molecules using the copper(I)-catalyzed...

Escherichia coli RidA is a member of a structurally conserved, yet functionally highly diverse protein family involved in translation inhibition (human), Hsp90-like chaperone activity (fruit fly) and enamine/imine deamination (Salmonella enterica). Here, we show that E. coli RidA modified with HOCl acts as a highly effective chaperone. Although act...

In the face of multi-resistant pathogens it is time to find new antibacterial strategies. A system-based approach to studying antibiotic action of natural compounds, antimicrobial peptides, and small molecules allows investigation of clinically unexploited antibiotic classes and targets as well as intrinsic bacterial defence mechanisms. We also inv...

In the face of multi-resistant pathogens it is time to find new antibacterial strategies. A system-based approach to studying antibiotic action of natural compounds, antimicrobial peptides, and small molecules allows investigation of clinically unexploited antibiotic classes and targets as well as intrinsic bacterial defence mechanisms. We also inv...

The worrying appearance of microbial resistance to antibiotics is a worldwide problem which needs to be tackled urgently. Microbial resistance to the common classes of antibiotics involving purely organic compounds unfortunately develops very rapidly and in most cases, resistance was detected soon after or even before release of the antibiotic to t...

The cryptophyte phycocyanin Cr-PC577 from Hemiselmis pacifica is a close relative of Cr-PC612 found in Hemiselmis virescens and Hemiselmis tepida. The two biliproteins differ in that Cr-PC577 lacks the major peak at around 612 nm in the absorption spectrum. Cr-PC577 was thus purified and characterized with respect to its bilin chromophore compositi...

The rapid increase in resistance against common antibiotics calls for the development of novel antibiotics, particularly against multi-resistant bacteria such as the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In this work, the two group 8 metallocenoyl derivatives ferrocenoyl (FcC(O)-) or ruthenocenoyl (RcC(O)-) were attached to the N-term...

Plasma is ionized gas, which is found in various forms in nature and can also be generated artificially. A variety of cold atmospheric-pressure plasmas are currently being investigated for their clinical utility, and first studies reporting on the treatment of patients showed that plasma treatment may support the wound healing process. One of the b...

Significance Multidrug-resistant bacteria present an acute problem to medicine, generating interest in novel antimicrobial strategies. Antimicrobial peptides currently are being investigated, both as antibiotics and as immunomodulatory agents. Many antimicrobial peptides interact with the bacterial membrane, a previously underexplored antibiotic ta...

The lantibiotic NAI-107 is active against Gram-positive bacteria including vancomycin-resistant enterococci and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. To identify the molecular basis of its potency, we studied the mode of action in a series of whole cell and in vitro assays and analyzed structural features by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)....

Plasma sterilization is a promising alternative to commonly used sterilization techniques, because the conventional methods suffer from certain limitations, e.g. incompatibility with heat-sensitive materials, or use of toxic agents. However, plasma-based sterilization mechanisms are not fully understood yet. A low-pressure very high frequency capac...

Diisopropylamino-cis-2,6-dimethylpiperidinocarbene reacts regio- and diastereoselectively with CO to afford a bicyclic β-lactam with 100% atom efficiency, whose spectrum of activity resembles that of penicillin G or amoxicillin.

High systemic toxicity of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) limits their clinical application to the treatment of topical infections; in parenteral systemic application of AMPs the problem of hemolysis is one of the first to be tackled. We now show that the high activity of lipidated short synthetic AMPs can be optimized substantially by reducing their...

Cold atmospheric-pressure plasmas are currently in use in medicine as surgical tools and are being evaluated for new applications, including wound treatment and cosmetic care. The disinfecting properties of plasmas are of particular interest, given the threat of antibiotic resistance to modern medicine. Plasma effluents comprise (V)UV photons and v...

ISSN: 0949-8257 (Print) 1432-1327 (Online) page 599

DnaK-DnaJ-GrpE and GroES-GroEL are the major chaperone machineries in bacteria. In many species, dnaKJ and groESL are encoded in bicistronic operons. Quantitative proteomics revealed that DnaK and GroEL amounts in Salmonella dominate over DnaJ and GroES, respectively. An imperfect transcriptional terminator in the intergenic region of dnaKJ is know...

A low-pressure VHF-CCP is used to investigate the impact of H2 and O2 plasma on bio-macromolecules. Since both, plasma and cells, are very complex systems, bio-macromolecules are used to identify possible inactivation mechanisms. With the ubiquitous enzyme GAPDH, enzyme activity tests were carried out before and after plasma treatment, revealing th...

Two hetero-tri-organometallic compounds with potent activity against Gram-positive bacteria including multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were identified. The compounds consist of a peptide nucleic add backbone with an alkyne side chain, substituted with a cymantrene, a (dipicolyl)Re(CO)(3) moiety, and either a ferrocene (FcPNA) or a ruthe...

To maintain their metal ion homeostasis, bacteria critically depend on membrane integrity and controlled ion translocation. Terrestrial Streptomyces species undermine the function of the cytoplasmic membrane as diffusion barrier for metal cations in competitors using ionophores. Although the properties of the divalent cation ionophores calcimycin a...

Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (CAPs) are being investigated for medical applications, and the first clinical studies are promising. However, interactions between plasmas and biological samples are only partly understood on a molecular level. In this study, bovine serum albumin (BSA), a standard model for plasma-mediated etching of biological sa...

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets effectively inactivate bacteria on ­surfaces including infected tissues. This is due to the combined effects of (V)UV radiation, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, ions, and high electric fields. A well-characterized microscale atmospheric pressure plasma jet (μ-APPJ) operated with He/O2 gas mixture has been modi...

A novel linker for the synthesis of C-terminally acetylene-functionalized protected peptides is described. This SAM1-linker is applied in the manual Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis of Leu-enkephalin, and in microwave assisted automated synthesis of Maculatin 2.1, an antibacterial peptide that contains 18-amino acid residues. For the cleava...

A series of small synthetic arginine and tryptophan containing peptides was prepared and analyzed for their antibacterial activity. The effect of N-terminal substitution with metallocenoyl groups such as ferrocene (FcCO) and ruthenocene (RcCO) was investigated. Antibacterial activity in different media, growth inhibition, and killing kinetics of th...

The attachment of lipids to C- or N-terminally positioned lysine side-chain amino groups increases the activity of a short synthetic (Arg-Trp)3 antimicrobial peptide significantly, making these peptides even active against pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. Thus, a peptide with strong activity against S. aureus (1.1-2 μM) and good activity against...

Mersacidin, gallidermin, and nisin are lantibiotics, antimicrobial peptides containing lanthionine. They show potent antibacterial activity. All three interfere with cell wall biosynthesis by binding lipid II, but they display different levels of interaction with the cytoplasmic membrane. On one end of the spectrum, mersacidin interferes with cell...

The multistep synthesis and biological evaluation of five structurally diverse, chiral and achiral CpMn(CO)3 (4, 7 and 8), (η6-arene)Cr(CO)3 (5), and [3]ferrocenophane-1-one (6) containing platensimycin (1) derivatives are described in this report. The structures were inspired by the antibiotic platensimycin. All the chiral compounds presented in t...

The global analysis of changes in the protein composition of bacterial cells in response to treatment with antibiotic agents grants insights into the physiological response of cells to inhibition of vital cellular functions. This unit gives an overview of how global proteomic studies can impact antibacterial drug discovery by identifying or validat...

form only given. Plasma sterilization is known to be a promising alternative to common sterilization methods. Although lots of effort has been taken to investigate low-pressure plasma sterilization systems, only little effort has been taken to bring plasma sterilization to market. In this contribution we will present a plasma sterilization prototyp...