Projects

Ergosterol biosynthesis project

Mechanisms of antifungal drug resistance; Identification of the mode of action of novel antifungals.

Key Publications:

• Sastré-Veláquez LE, Dallemulle A, Kühbacher A, Baldin C, Alcazar-Fuoli L, Niedrig A, Müller C, Gsaller F. The fungal expel of 5-fluorocytosine derived fluoropyrimidines mitigates its antifungal activity and generates a cytotoxic environment. PLoS Pathogens, 2022; 18: 1011066.
• Krauß J*, Müller C*, Klimt M, Valero LJ, Hernandez JFM, Müller M, Bartel K, Binder U, Bracher F. Synthesis, biological evaluation and structure activity relationships of 4-amino piperidines as novel antifungal agents targeting ergosterol biosynthesis. Molecules, 2021; 26:7208. *Authors contributed equally to this work.
• Müller C, Binder U, Bracher F, Giera M. Antifungal drug testing: Combining minimal inhibitory concentration testing with target identification by the use of gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Nature Protocols, 2017, 12:947-963.

Cholesterol biosynthesis project

Identification of novel cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitors; Analysis of sterols in body tissues/fluids; Druggability of 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR24).

Key Publications:

• Junker J, Kamp F, Winkler E, Steiner H, Bracher F, Müller C. Effective sample preparation procedure for the analysis of free neutral steroids, free steroid acids and sterol sulfates in different tissues by GC-MS. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2021; 211:105880.
• Körner A, Zhou E, Müller C, Mohamed Y, Herceg S, Bracher F, Rensen PCN, Wang Y, Mirakaj V, Giera M. Inhibition of Δ24-dehydrocholesterol activates pro-resolving lipid mediator biosynthesis and inflammation resolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2019; 116:20623-20634.
• Müller C, Junker J, Bracher F, Giera M. A gas chromatography – mass spectrometry based whole cell screening assay for target identification in distal cholesterol biosynthesis. Nature Protocols, 2019; 14:2546-2570.

Environmental project

Method development for trace analysis of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and persistent organic pollutants from different matrices by GC-MS/MS; Analysis of environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity.

Key Publications:

• Schanzer S, Koch M, Kiefer A, Jentke T, Veith M, Bracher F, Bracher J, Müller C. Analysis of pesticide and persisttent organic pollutant residues in German bats. Chemosphere, 2022; 305:135342.
• Schanzer S, Kröner E, Wibbelt G, Koch M, Kiefer A, Bracher F, Müller C. Miniaturized multiresidue method for the analysis of pesticides and persistent organic pollutants in non-target wildlife animal liver tissues using GC-MS/MS. Chemosphere, 2021; 279:130434.
• Löbbert A, Schanzer S, Krehenwinkel H, Bracher F, Müller C. Determination of multi pesticide residues in leaf and needle samples using a modified QuEChERS approach and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Analytical Methods, 2021; 23:1138-1146.

Barn dust project

Preparation of stable barn dust extracts for the prevention and treatment of asthma and allergies.

Key Publications:

• WO 2020/120724 (18.06.2020). von Mutius E, Bracher F, Müller C, Vercelli D: “Barn dust extract for the prevention and treatment of diseases”.
• van der Vlugt L, Eger K, Müller C, Ninaber DK, Zarcone MC, Amatngalim GD, Bracher F, von Mutius E, Smits HH, Hiemstra PS. Farm dust reduces viral load in human bronchial epithelial cells by increasing barrier function. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2018; 141:1949-1952.