New AI-powered approach to find drugs that stop bacteria from making harmful proteins
Official title: A novel force spectroscopy to study the ribosome power strokes and frameshifting
Funded at University of Houston · NIH-11366013 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A research project uses AI to map how bacterial ribosome factors interact with small molecules to fight drug-resistant infections like MRSA.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Houston NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2015 |
| Project end | February 28, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $314,000 |
| NIH project number | 2R01GM111452-09A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11366013 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable to patient participation; this is a basic science project focused on bacterial drug targets.
✕Less likely to help
Direct patient participation is unlikely; the study does not involve people.
What this research studies
This project combines artificial intelligence with lab experiments to study how bacterial translation proteins EF-G and EF-Tu interact with potential antibiotics. By predicting and testing multiple protein shapes, researchers aim to identify compounds that block resistance mechanisms. The work focuses on accelerating discovery of effective drugs against MRSA and other multidrug-resistant bacteria, with the goal of enabling faster development of new treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could speed up the discovery of new antibiotics that overcome resistance in dangerous bacteria.
How similar studies have gone: AI-guided drug discovery and structural modeling have shown promise in identifying novel inhibitors in similar antibiotic-target projects.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Houston
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wang, Yuhong — University of Houston
- Study coordinator: Wang, Yuhong
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.