What do pharmaceutical biologists actually do? Our research in a nutshell (video in German)
Biogenic avenues towards infection and anti-inflammatory therapy
The combination of incorrect and overly frequent application of antibiotics and insufficient hygiene measures in hospitals leads to a worldwide rise in the number of resistant bacteria for which ever less effective therapies exist.
At the Chair for Pharmaceutical Biology intelligent mechanisms of action and nano-systems that transport known antibiotics to infected sites in the human body are explored. We apply state-of-the-art biomimetic systems that utilise mechanisms found in nature or are derived from them. This allows for an effective control of pathogenic bacteria with minimal adverse effects.
We are also interested to understand (auto)inflammatory processes, such as in the gastrointestinal system, and develop anti-inflammatory treatment avenues for such dispositions.
Extracellular vesicles and biomaterial design
Our focus is on the characterisation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as natural conveyers of cellular information. EVs are nanoparticles of 50-200 nm in size that are produced naturally by virtually all eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. EVs consists of a lipid double layer, carry signal molecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids (e.g. microRNA), and are very efficient cell-cell communicators that migrate from one cell type to another, interact with the target cell by means of their surface and membrane proteins and thus transfer signal molecules in a highly specific manner.
We are interested to understand the role of EVs during infection but we also want to use these biogenic carriers to transfer molecules of choice to target tissue. We aim at incorporating these drug-loaded EVs in smart biomaterials and evaluate their efficiency in complex in vitro and in vivo models.
Bacterial, human and plant cell culture models
Our lab is fully equipped with state-of-the-art molecular biology tools and analytics to study different cell models. We characterise natural products from bacterial and plant cultures and assess their biocompatibility in different human cell models.
We furthermore isolate and characterise bacterial and plant EVs and study how these interact with other bacteria or human cells, and which physiological role they may have. New therapeutic approaches to combat bacterial infections can be derived from these studies.
We are a member of FAU Research Centre New Bioactive Compounds (NeW)
The FAU Research Center “New Bioactive Compounds” (FAU NeW) promotes outstanding research at FAU and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen on new bioactive compounds, their targets and mechanisms of action and strengthens collaboration in the field of bioanalytics.
Vilhena lab -Bacterial Interface Dynamics
Our lab investigates the dynamic interactions between Streptococcus pneumoniae and its environment, with a specific focus on the formation and function of bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are not only essential for intercellular communication but also play crucial roles in infection and immune evasion. Investigating their biogenesis will facilitate downstream bioengineering applications.