Our primary objective is to use a blend of chemical and biological approaches to address the alarming rise in antibiotic resistance. In this endeavour, we seek to identify and characterize novel antibiotic compounds. Our research involves the characterization of novel natural products and employs synthetic methods to reveal both biological mode of action and structure-activity relationships. Further, we evaluate the mechanistic details of key biosynthetic enzymes for the purposes of analog generation. Taken together, our work aims to expedite the discovery of future medicines from biological sources. Of special interest are compounds that only kill pathogenic bacteria or directly target mechanisms of virulence. Unlike currently deployed antibiotics, which exclusively target essential life processes, our strategy holds great potential in delaying resistance. The Mitchell laboratory is a multidisciplinary team that draws methodology from the fields of chemical biology, organic chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, structural biology, and bioinformatics.

For a more detailed research description see: https://mitchell-lab.chemistry.illinois.edu/index.html