Drugs from Bugs: Developing New Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drugs from Gut Bacteria-Derived Bioactives
Abstract
Gut bacteria produce bioactive metabolites that are absorbed by the intestine and distributed throughout the body, impacting both local and distant sites. In our previous successful Discovery Award project, we identified several human gut-derived bacteria capable of producing anti-inflammatory compounds. In this expansion award, we will identify the structure of the small molecules and optimize their structure to improve stability and solubility and test their efficacy in pre-clinical animal models (Aim 1). Optimized version of the small molecules will be assessed for pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and toxicity in animal models (Aim 2). We will attempt to identify the host target molecule, cell and organ of action of the therapeutic agents (Aim 3). We will assess the impact of the small molecules on the microbiota of using the optimized therapeutic compound, but also the natural product to reveal bacteria-bacteria communication in the gut. At the conclusion of this project, we aim to have optimized three unique structures of anti-inflammatories ready for human trials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1190553
Entities
People
- Jakob Begun
Organizations
- University of Queensland