Biotechnology “Made in Regensburg“
(No. 247) BioPark Regensburg GmbH, an enterprise of the city of Regensburg, and the patent law firm Dehmel & Bettenhausen based there have again awarded an innovation prize of €1,500 in 2023 to outstanding research work as part of this year‘s Dies academicus at the University of Regensburg.
The jury around BioPark managing director Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, patent attorney Dr. Berthold Bettenhausen, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weber from the University of Regensburg and the vice president of the OTH Regensburg Prof. Dr. Klaudia Winkler (see picture 1) found it was not easy to choose this year's winner from the high-quality applications. The decisive criteria were the innovative strength, application and start-up potential of the work.
The BioPark Innovation Prize 2023 was awarded to Maria Watzlowik for her research work on the inhibition of ATPase enzymes as a weapon against pathogens at the Institute of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology of the Chair for Biochemistry at the University of Regenburg and the Chair for Experimental Parasitology at the LMU Munich. Many diseases caused by parasites such as malaria, toxoplasmosis, sleeping sickness or giardiasis represent a global threat. An enormous amount of research is being carried out to combat the pathogenic parasites.
In her doctoral thesis, Ms. Watzlowik characterized so-called ATPases in the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum. The enzyme family of ATPases is the universal energy currency in cells. Since the pathogen family tree diverged from vertebrates very early in evolution, the cellular processes and thus the ATPases of the host and parasite differ. This enables a systematic search for specific inhibitors of the parasite ATPase that leave the host cell's ATPase unaffected. As part of her work, Ms. Watzlowik searched two active substance libraries using a so-called ADP biosensor assay she developed and was able to discover potential inhibitors that were actually toxic to the malaria parasites in cell culture. One inhibitor was so potent that it 100% prevented the parasites from surviving, reproducing and spreading. Based on these results, a patent could be registered for this inhibitor as an antimalarial drug.
The result of the doctoral work serves as a proof of concept and can be used to search for further specific inhibitors of other pathogens. The scope of application is not only limited to parasites, but also extends to bacteria and viruses. (Contact: maria-theresia.watzlowik@ur.de)
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