News & Events

Natural Products as Antimicrobial Leads: What Would it Take to Find the Next Penicillin?

Date: 
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 - 12:45 to 14:00
Speaker: 
Dr. Nadja Cech
Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Event Category: 
LMC - Lectures in Modern Chemistry
Location: 
Chemistry B250

Abstract:

Since Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin sparked the antibiotic revolution, intense interest has been focused on natural products as sources of antimicrobial agents.  Antimicrobial drug discovery from natural products has been fruitful; of the five major classes of antibiotics used clinically today, four are based on molecules produced by nature.  However, despite tremendous progress towards finding novel chemistry (i.e. new structures), developing new synthetic routes, and elucidating new biosynthetic mechanisms, it has been more than three decades since a new class of antibiotics received FDA approval. The pipeline for structurally diverse antimicrobial leads is depleted, while resistance continues to develop to existing antibiotics.  This seminar will highlight some examples of antimicrobial and antivirulence leads identified from fungal and bacterial sources, demonstrating pitfalls and opportunities in antimicrobial discovery and discussing some of the critical barriers towards successful antimicrobial development.