Trial lecture and disputation Master of Medical Science Martin Paul Heimböck.

Later, at 12.15 he will defend his thesis entitled: "Preclinical Evaluation of Antimicrobial Compounds: An Investigation of Natural Products, Natural Product Derivates, and Synthetic Compounds".

Dean Vidar Sørum will lead the disputation.

Popular Science Summary
Antibiotic resistance is increasing, making bacterial infections harder to treat. Therefore, new antibiotics need to be developed. In this work, we tested compounds for their ability to stop bacteria from growing and from forming biofilms, which are groups of bacteria surrounding themselves with a protective film.
First, we tested seven compounds related to natural products called breitfussins. One of them prevented biofilm formation at doses that did not stop bacterial growth. We then tested 42 related compounds and found 12 that inhibited the growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Using bacteria that emit light if a compound interferes with defined parts of their metabolism, we found that the compounds disrupt fatty-acid production and damage the bacterial cell membrane. Finally, we found that ianthelline, a compound from a marine sponge, disrupts bacterial membranes and may affect gene expression and protein production. This work shows promising starting points for future antibiotics.

Evaluation Committee

• Professor Håvard Jenssen, Roskilde University, Denmark (1. opponent)
• Associate Professor Diogo Neves Proença, University of Algarve, Portugal (2. opponent)
• Associate Professor Theresa Wagner, NFH (internal member and leader of the committee)

Supervisors

• Professor Jeanette Hammer Andersen, NFH
• Professor Espen Holst Hansen, NFH
• Associate Professor Kine Østnes Hansen, Department of Pharmacy
• Postdoc Guillame Petit, NFH

Streaming

Both the trial lecture and defense and will be streamed and recorded:

• Trial lecture
• Defense

Thesis

 The thesis is available in Vitenarkivet