New ways to target bacterial membranes to beat resistant infections
Exploiting membrane targets to overcome antibiotic resistance
This program is designing medicines that attack bacteria's outer membranes to help treat infections that no longer respond to common antibiotics.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Medical School NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11121818 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you have an infection that resists antibiotics, this program is looking for weak spots in the bacterial outer membrane that medicines could target. Researchers from chemistry, structural biology, and genetics will study membrane proteins and assembly pathways using biochemical tests, structural methods, and chemical screening. They will test compounds that disrupt bacterial membranes to see whether bacteria lyse, become more vulnerable to the immune system, or respond better to existing antibiotics. Promising compounds would be advanced toward clinical testing at hospital sites to determine whether they help people with resistant infections.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections or those at high risk for such infections (for example, hospitalized or immunocompromised patients) would be the most likely candidates for future trials stemming from this work.
Not a fit: Patients with viral infections or conditions unrelated to bacterial resistance are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could produce new drugs or drug combinations that restore the effectiveness of antibiotics against resistant bacterial infections.
How similar studies have performed: Membrane-targeting antibiotics have precedents (for example, polymyxins) but creating new, safe, and broadly effective membrane-directed therapies remains challenging and partly untested.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard Medical School — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Walker, Suzanne — Harvard Medical School
- Study coordinator: Walker, Suzanne
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 below.