Prof. Herman Sintim, University of Maryland

Disrupting Bacterial Networks with Synthetic Small Molecules

In the last decade we have come to appreciate that bacteria do not live in isolation but rather in fluid communities where the transition between the planktonic and the biofilm states occurs when bacteria communicate with each other, using small molecules. Interests in the nature of these small molecules and the receptors and networks that the small molecules affect have been high because understanding these could lead to the development of new anti-infectives, biotechnological applications and possibly some lessons learned about the origin of life and multicellularity. In this seminar, I will highlight our efforts to map out quorum sensing in diverse bacteria, develop new small molecules to intercept quorum sensing and also introduce a new bacterial signaling molecule, called c-di-GMP. C-di-GMP has emerged as a master regulator of bacterial phenotype and recent work by us is beginning to reveal that c-di-GMP might have had a role to play in how multicellularity evolved in response to a changing environment. In our work, we utilize the tools of organic chemistry to make these small molecules and then use biophysical, biochemical and microbiology tools to study the interactions of our synthesized small molecules and biological targets. This talk will therefore be of interest to chemists and biologists alike.

For more information contact Prof. Adegboyega Oyelere (404-894-4047).