Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Chemists Design Molecules for Controlling Bacterial Behavior

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, By Rob Enslin
Share
Research and Creative

Chemists in the College of Arts and Sciences have figured out how to control multiple bacterial behaviors—potentially good news for the treatment of infectious diseases and other bacteria-associated issues, without causing drug resistance.

Yan-Yeung Luk

Yan-Yeung Luk

Yan-Yeung Luk, associate professor of chemistry, has spearheaded the discovery, in conjunction with his research lab at Syracuse University and the Wang Lab at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Their findings are the subject of a forthcoming article in the journal ChemBioChem (John Wiley & Sons Inc.).

“Since the discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928, bacteria have become smarter and have developed resistance to many drugs,” says Luk, an expert in bio-organic chemistry, nanomaterials and chemical biology. “They’ve done this by altering their genetic make-up; transferring drug-resistant genes between one another; and creating biofilms, which are multicellular communities where bacteria can be a thousand-fold more resistant to antibiotics.”

In response, Luk’s team has developed a class of chemical agents that does not kill bacteria but, rather, changes their multicellular behaviors. These agents are called disaccharide derivatives, and they mimic a class of natural molecules known as rhamnolipids, which are produced and secreted by the bacterium itself.

Luk says that while non-microbicidal (i.e., “non-killing”) molecules are nothing new, his are unique because they target a new, yet-to-be-explained set of biological receptors.

“Rhamnolipids modulate at least three multicellular bioactivities in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” says Luk, referring to the rod-shaped bacterium that causes disease in animals and humans. “The synthetic molecules made by our lab don’t exactly look like rhamnolipids, but they can control bioactivities, such as swarming movements, surface adhesion and biofilm formation.”

This class, he adds, is non-microbicidal with a wide variety of microbes, thus giving it broad commercial value. It also has the potential to inhibit horizontal gene transfer—the process by which bacteria share genetic information, such as the ability to be drug-resistant.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium

In the near future, Luk’s team plans to unveil another class of molecules they have designed that not only mimics but also dominates the activities of rhamnolipids.

“Rhamnolipids are already on the market, but our product, with its synthetic flexibility, has just as many applications and may be improved rationally by synthetic design,” says Luk, who also holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “All of this is subject to ongoing research.”

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Hope Alvarez
  • Fall 2023 Career Week: Helping Students Achieve Professional Goals
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Gabrielle Lake
  • A Commitment to Arts and Sciences Excellence
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In Campus & Community

University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day

The spirit of the Orange will unite with the precision of the United States Army’s oldest active-duty band, the West Point Band, for several events this weekend at the University, including a public concert with the University’s Wind Ensemble in…

Fall 2023 Career Week: Helping Students Achieve Professional Goals

“It’s never too early to begin taking action to achieve your unique professional goals,” is advice frequently shared by school, college and unit career teams in partnership with Syracuse University Career Services. Supporting students within their unique trajectory to career…

The State of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at Syracuse University With Mary Grace Almandrez

As the University’s vice president for diversity and inclusion, Mary Grace Almandrez was paying close attention to the Supreme Court rulings that were issued towards the end of the court’s term in June. In particular, Almandrez and her Office of…

A Commitment to Arts and Sciences Excellence

A welcoming community where students of varying backgrounds thrive. An infrastructure that nurtures top-tier research and academics. These are two cornerstones of the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) experience. Over the past six years, A&S has shown important strides…

Study Abroad and the Academic Experience

Sophie Creager-Roberts ’24 is a senior double major in environment, sustainability and policy and history in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in atrocity studies and the practices of social justice in the School of…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.