Actual location is: Screening @ HZI /
Helmholtz Zentrum Für Infektionsforschung
Department of Chemical Biology
Head of Department: Dr. Ronald Frank
The discovery of new chemical substances that have the potential to be applied in the fight against infectious pathogens is a primary goal of the department "Chemical Biology". These substances could be, for example, developed into new antibiotics, into novel chemotherapeutics, or as stimulants of the immune system. In pursuit of this goal, the researchers follow the empirical process of combinatorial chemistry and parallel or serial testing (screening). Many derivatives around small molecule skeletons are chemically synthesized and substances with a desired biological activity are identified by testing all components of these large chemical libraries using automated and miniaturized high-throughput assays. A major part of the effort is invested into the development of suitable technologies and bio assays for the high-throughput screening (HTS).
A special focus of the departments work is on chemical microarrays. These tools consist of microscope slides with tiny spots of immobilized substances attached onto their surface. As many as 10,000 different compounds can be applied to a single slide. In order to manufacture these microarrays, larger quantities of all the substances to be investigated need to be made first and are then applied (printed) to the microscope slides. These microarrays are incubated with biological samples such as cell extracts or blood serum from infected test animals. Those spot where a substance interacts with a component of the sample is then easily identified. The methods are continuously being advanced and improved by the department.
Special pages HZI: