Postdoc in the Grinter Lab at Bio21, UoM
Antibiotic mechanisms| Cryo-EM | Bacterial pathogens | Membrane proteins
Fabian Munder
This is an amazing paper led by the Grinter lab on bacterial protein antibiotics called pyocins and the mechanism by which they inhibit the BAM outer membrane complex. @rhyswg.bsky.social, @knottrna.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, @doylemt1.bsky.social, @fabianmunder.bsky.social
Fabien Munder - New strategies to fight AMR.
Bacterial competition via L-type pyocins; targeting (1) BamA EC loop 6, (2) beta-strand 1.
Inhibit beta barrel assembly by blocking the BAM barrel lumen. Increase cell permeability - holes in the OM. 👏
(EMReady post-processing) 🤓
#lorneproteins2026
The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria blocks many antibiotics. Our latest work reveals that L-type pyocins bypass this barrier by inactivating the BAM complex, killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa without entering the cell, providing a new blueprint for beating antibiotic resistance.
S3: Luca Troman-Spirochete flagellar motors rotate in opposite directions; periplasmic flagella are more complex.
Treponema denticola. 2 motors, thick and thin flagella. SPA Native flagella isolation w optiprep cushion, inner core, outer sheath, mystery density - modelangelo! 🕵♀️
#lorneproteins2026
Why make a cofactor when you can get it for free?
Our work, led by @fabianmunder.bsky.social, shows that bacteria from 22 phyla use the high-affinity transporter PqqU to obtain the redox cofactor PQQ from the environment as an alternative to cofactor synthesis.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
L-type pyocins inhibit the BAM complex with a mechanism that reminds me of the facehuggers from Alien!
Check out our preprint in which we determine how a class of potent protein antibiotics specifically kill P. aeruginosa without a need to enter the cell.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
This is work from my PhD in the lab of @rhyswg.bsky.social and many collaborators who contributed amazing data!
Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...
Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...
www.biorxiv.org
Diverse bacteria use the high-affinity membrane transport protein PqqU to scavenge the nutrient PQQ from the environment.
Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...
