Peptidases are indispensable tools in biotechnology and chemical biology. However, the enzyme repertoire for the selective hydrolysis of dl-amide bonds in peptides is small. Here, we describe novel dl...

Seit 100 Jahren können Bakterien mit Antibiotika gut behandelt werden. Doch inzwischen sind auch multiresistente Keime im Umlauf, die immun gegen die Medikamente sind. An der Uni Jena forscht man an e...

Researchers in the Cluster of Excellence “Balance of the Microverse” at the University of Jena decipher a key mechanism of antibiotic resistance pumps

17th German Peptide Symposium, University of Duisburg-Essen, 04.-06.03.2026, Group Professor Markus Kaiser

The enzyme carbonic anhydrase mediates the taste sensation of carbonated drinks.

YouTube video by Universität Jena

Bacterially produced antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), or bacteriocins, play key roles in shaping microbial communities via interspecies competition. Unlike the more temporally dynamic gut microbiome, the oral microbiome exhibits long-term stability and is preserved into deep time in dental calculus, enabling evolutionary analysis across time. Here, we combine metagenomics, structural modeling, and experimental validation to investigate AMP diversity in ancient and modern dental biofilms from humans, Neanderthals, and nonhuman primates spanning 100,000 years. Using our newly developed platform, AMPcombi, we uncover evolutionary trajectories of bacteriocins and elucidate their ecological functions. Among these, we identify a conserved family of Actinomyces-derived defensin-like peptides, termed actifensins, present across all time periods. Phylogenetic, structural, and functional analyses revealed shared ancestry and adaptive diversification between ancient (paleo-) and modern actifensins, with evidence of positive selection and maintained antimicrobial activity. Our findings position the oral microbiome as a valuable reservoir for natural product discovery. In the face of rising antimicrobial resistance, evolutionary insights into AMP function open a door to next-generation therapeutics. AMPcombi streamlines this process, linking ancient biomolecules with biotechnology.

The ankyrin repeat is one of the most abundant protein-protein interaction motifs in eukaryotes yet occurs in only a small number of ion channels. These channels are all members of the transient recep...

The communication hinge, found in type IV ABC transporters, forms a bidirectional communication between ATP- and substrate-binding sites. This is an unexplored allosteric pathway critical for function...

Nature Communications - The communication hinge, found in type IV ABC transporters, forms a bidirectional communication between ATP- and substrate-binding sites. This is an unexplored allosteric...

Biological processes rely on finely tuned homo- and heteromeric interactions between (biomacro)molecules. The strength of an interaction, typically given by the dissociation constant (KD), plays a cru...

Sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder caused by a mutation in the β-globin gene, is characterized by sickle erythrocytes that are ...