Title: Glycan Synthesis towards New Glycolipid Antibiotics with New Mechanisms of Action
Amélia Pilar Rauter
Center of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences,
University of Lisbon, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
The search for new antimicrobial drugs is currently one of the major ongoing research areas due to the spread of multidrug-resistance, thus encouraging research on antibacterial agents with new mechanisms of action. A new family of antibiotics, structurally based on glycolipids, with a potent antimicrobial activity againstBacillus species will be disclosed. We present our recent findings that cover synthetic approaches to new antimicrobial molecular entities differing in the glycon structure, based on alkyl deoxy pento- and hexopyranosides belonging to the d- or l-series. Stereochemistry, in particular the anomeric configuration, and the deoxygenation pattern are modified in order to evaluate their contribution to the structure/activity relationship. Also the lipophilic chain is changed for the recognition of the key structural features for the bioactivity/selectivity for Bacillus species. The surface properties of the most active compounds, in terms of adsorption and aggregation parameters, are also presented. Although surface activity is required for the bioactivity, this property is not sufficient to account for bioactivity, as shown bysome promising surface active glycosides, that were not active. In order to have insights into the mechanism of action of this family of compounds, expected to target bacterial membranes, a multidisciplinary approach covering biophysical and biological methods was followed.The elucidation of the new mechanisms of action of this family of antibiotics will be disclosed and discussed, demonstrating the relevance of the glycan structure for the bactericidal activity.
Biography
Amélia Pilar Rauter has made herHabilitation at Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL, 2002) and completed her Ph.D. at Technische Universitaet Graz, Austria (1982). She is the Head of the Carbohydrate Chemistry Group - Center of Chemistry and Biochemistry (FCUL), and has been serving as Editor (RSC Carbohydrate Chemistry book series), Associated Editor (Mediterranean Journal of Chemistry), and member of journals advisory board in Organic/Carbohydrate Chemistry. She is Secretary of the European Carbohydrate Organisation and Secretary of the IUPAC Division on Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, has published more than 130 papers and book chapters, and authored 12 patents.
Presenting author details
Full name: Amélia Pilar Rauter
Contact number: +351 964408824
Sessionname/ number: Synthesis and Biological Role of Glycans
Category: Oral presentation
URL: