Chemical Biology

Life Sciences

President

Chalmers University of Technology

wenzelm

&amp;equally contributed#(co)-corresponding&nbsp;Preprints&nbsp;1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Buttress J, Schäfer AB, Koh A, Wheatley J, Mickiewicz K, Wenzel M, Strahl H. The last resort antibiotic daptomycin exhibits two independent antibacterial mechanisms of action. BioRxiv, doi: 10.1101/2024.12.20.629673 (2025)2025&nbsp;2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Celik IN&amp;, Saaki TNV&amp;, Wenzel M, Syvertsson S, Morimoto T, Hamoen LW. Divisome minimization shows that FtsZ and SepF can form an active Z-ring, and reveals BraB as a new cell division influencing protein in Bacillus subtilis. PLoS Genet 21, e1011567 (2025)2024&nbsp;3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rani R, Marinho Righetto G, Schäfer AB, Wenzel M#. The diverse activities and mechanisms of the acylphloroglucinol antibiotic rhodomyrtone: Antibacterial activity and beyond. Antibiotics (Basel) 13, 936 (2024)&nbsp;4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gray DA&amp;, Wang B&amp;, Sidarta M, Cornejo F, Wijnheijmer J, Rani R, Gamba P, Turgay K, Wenzel M, Strahl H, Hamoen LW. Membrane depolarization kills dormant Bacillus subtilis cells by generating a lethal dose of ROS. Nat Commun 15, 6877 (2024)&nbsp;5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sidarta M, Lorente Martín AI&amp;, Monsalve A&amp;, Marinho Righetto G, Schäfer A, Wenzel M#. Lipid phase separation impairs membrane thickness sensing by the Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase DesK. Microbiol Spectr 12, e0392523 (2024).&nbsp;6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Schäfer AB, Sidarta M, Abdelmesseh Nekhala I, Marinho Righetto G, Arshad A, Wenzel M#. Dissecting antibiotic effects on the cell envelope using bacterial cytological profiling: A phenotypic analysis starter kit. Microbiol Spectr 12, 0327523 (2024)&nbsp;7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Beyer LI, Schäfer AB, Undabarrena A, Mattsby-Baltzer I, Tietze D, Svensson E, Stubelius A, Wenzel M, Carmara B, Tietze AA. Mimicking non-ribosomal peptides from the marine actinomycete Streptomyces spc. H-KF8 leads to antimicrobial peptides. ACS Infect Dis 10, 79-92 (2024)&nbsp;2023&nbsp;8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kamal el-Sagheir AM, Abdelmesseh Nekhala I, Abd El-Gaber MK, Aboraia AS, Persson J, Schäfer AB, Wenzel M#, Omar FA#. Design, synthesis, molecular modelling, biological activity, and mechanism of action of novel amino acid derivatives of norfloxacin. ACS Omega 8, 43271-84 (2023)&nbsp;9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kamal el-Sagheir AM, Abdelmesseh Nekhala I, Abd El-Gaber MK, Aboraia AS, Persson J, Schäfer AB, Wenzel M#, Omar FA#. Rational design, synthesis, molecular modeling, biological activity, and mechanism of action of polypharmacological norfloxacin hydroxamic acid derivatives. RSC Med Chem 14, 2593-610 (2023)&nbsp;10.&nbsp;&nbsp; Kamal el-Sagheir AM&amp;, Abdelmesseh Nekhala I&amp;, Abd El-Gaber MK, Aboraia AS, Persson J, Schäfer AB, Wenzel M#, Omar FA#. N4-substituted piperazinyl norfloxacin derivatives with broad-spectrum activity and multiple mechanisms on gyrase, topoisomerase IV, and bacterial cell wall synthesis. ACS Bio Med Chem Au 3, 494-506 (2023)&nbsp;11.&nbsp;&nbsp; Schäfer AB&amp;, Steenhuis M&amp;, Jim KK, Neef J, O’Keefe S, Whitehead RC, Swanton E, Wang B, Halbedel S, High S, van Dijl JM, Luirink J#, Wenzel M#. Dual action of eeyarestatin 24 on Sec-dependent protein secretion and bacterial DNA. ACS Infect Dis 9, 253-69 (2023)&nbsp;2022&nbsp;12.&nbsp;&nbsp; Humphrey M&amp;, Abdelmesseh Nekhala I&amp;, Scheinpflug K&amp;, Krylova O, Schäfer AB, Buttress JA, Wenzel M#, Strahl H#. Tracking global and local changes in membrane fluidity through fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. Methods Mol Biol 2601, 203-229 (2022)&nbsp;13.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sidarta M, Baruah L, Wenzel M#. Roles of bacterial mechanosensitive channels in infection and antibiotic susceptibility. Pharmaceuticals 15, 770 (2022)&nbsp;14.&nbsp;&nbsp; Saaki TNV, Teng Z, Wenzel M, Ventroux M, Carballido-López R, Noirot-Gros MF, Hamoen LW. SepF supports the recruitment of the DNA translocase SftA to the Z-ring. Mol Microbiol 117, 1263-74 (2022)2021&nbsp;15.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M#, Dekker MP, Wang B, Burggraaf M, Bitter W, van Weering JRT#, Hamoen LW. A flat embedding method for transmission electron microscopy reveals an unknown mechanism of tetracycline. Commun Biol 4, 306 (2021)&nbsp;16.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M&amp;, Celik Gulsoy IN&amp;, Gao Y, Teng Z, Willemse J, Middelkamp M, van Rosmalen MGM, Larsen PWB, van der Wel NN, Wuite GJL, Roos WH, Hamoen LW. Control of septum thickness by the curvature of SepF polymers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118, e2002635118 (2021)&nbsp;2020&nbsp;17.&nbsp;&nbsp; Schäfer AB, Wenzel M#. A how-to guide for mode of action analysis of antimicrobial peptides. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10, 540898 (2020)&nbsp;18.&nbsp;&nbsp; Senges CHR, Stepanek JJ, Wenzel M, Raatschen N, Ay Ü, Märtens Y, Prochnow P, Vázquez-Hernández M, Yayci A, Schubert B, Janzig NBM, Warmuth HL, Kozik M, Bongard J, Alumasa JN, Albada HB, Penkova M, Lukecic T, Sorto NA, Lorenz N, Miller R, Zhu B, Benda M, Stülke J, Schäkermann S, Leichert LIO, Scheinpflug K, Brötz-Oesterhelt H, Hertweck C, Shaw JT, Petkovic H, Brunel JM, Keiler CK, Metzler-Nolte N, Bandow JE. Comparison of Proteomic Responses (CoPR) – a global approach to antibiotic mechanism of action elucidation. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 65, e01373-20 (2020)&nbsp;19.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M#. Do we really understand how antibiotics work? Future Microbiol 15, 1307-11 (2020)&nbsp;20.&nbsp;&nbsp; Gray DA, Wenzel M#. Multitarget approaches against multi-resistant superbugs. ACS Infect Dis 6, 1346-65 (2020)&nbsp;21.&nbsp;&nbsp; Gray DA, Wenzel M#. More than a pore: A current perspective on the in vivo mode of action of the lipopeptide antibiotic daptomycin. Antibiotics (Basel) 9, 17 (2020)&nbsp;2019&nbsp;22.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M#. Membranaktive Antibiotika: Neue Mechanismen gegen ein altbekanntes Ziel. BioSpektrum 25, 683 (2019)&nbsp;2018&nbsp;23.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M#, Vischer NOE, Strahl H, Hamoen LW#. Assessing membrane fluidity and visualizing fluid membrane domains in bacteria using fluorescent membrane dyes. Bioprotocol 8, e3063 (2018)&nbsp;24.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M#, Rautenbach M, Vosloo JA, Siersma T, Aisenbrey CHM, Zaitseva E, Laubscher WE, van Rensburg W, Behrends JC, Bechinger B, Hamoen LW#. The multifaceted antibacterial mechanisms of the pioneering peptide antibiotics tyrocidine and gramicidin S. MBio 9, e00802-18 (2018)&nbsp;25.&nbsp;&nbsp; Omardien S, Drijfhout JW, van Veen H, Vaz F, Vischer NO, Wenzel M, Riool M, Hamoen LW,&nbsp; Brul S, Zaat SAJ. Bactericidal activity of amphipathic cationic antimicrobial peptides involves altering the membrane fluidity when interacting with the phospholipid bilayer. Biochim Biophys Acta 1860, 2404-15 (2018)&nbsp;26.&nbsp;&nbsp; Saeloh D, Tipmanee V, Jim KK, Dekker MP, Bitter W, Voravuthikunchai SP, Wenzel M#, Hamoen LW#. The novel antibiotic rhodomyrtone traps membrane proteins in vesicles with increased fluidity. Plos Pathog 14, e1006876 (2018)&nbsp;2017&nbsp;27.&nbsp;&nbsp; Gao Y, Wenzel M, Jonker MJ, Hamoen LW. Free SepF interferes with recruitment of late cell division proteins. Sci Rep 7, 16928 (2017)&nbsp;28.&nbsp;&nbsp; Scheinpflug K, Wenzel M, Krylova O, Bandow JE, Dathe M, Strahl H. Antimicrobial peptide cWFW kills by combining lipid phase separation with autolysis. Sci Rep 7, 44332 (2017)&nbsp;29.&nbsp;&nbsp; Hamoen LW, Wenzel M#. Editorial: Antimicrobial peptides: Interaction with membrane lipids and proteins. Front Cell Dev Biol 5, 4 (2017)&nbsp;30.&nbsp;&nbsp; Saeloh D, Wenzel M, Rungrotmongkol T, Hamoen LW, Tipmanee V, Voravuthikunchai SP. Effects of rhodomyrtone on Gram-positive bacterial tubulin homologue FtsZ. PeerJ 5, e2962 (2017)&nbsp;2016&nbsp;31.&nbsp;&nbsp; Müller A&amp;, Wenzel M&amp;, Strahl H, Grein F, Saaki TN, Kohl B, Siersma T, Bandow JE, Sahl HG, Schneider T, Hamoen LW. Daptomycin inhibits cell envelope synthesis by interfering with fluid membrane microdomains. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113, E7077-86 (2016)&nbsp;32.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Prochnow P, Mowbray C, Vuong C, Höxtermann S, Stepanek JJ, Albada HB, Hall J, Metzler-Nolte N, Bandow JE. Towards profiles of resistance development and toxicity for the small cationic hexapeptide RWRWRW-NH2. Front Cell Dev Biol 4, 86 (2016)&nbsp;33.&nbsp;&nbsp; Stepanek JJ, Schäkermann S, Wenzel M, Prochnow P, Bandow JE. Purine biosynthesis is the bottleneck in trimethoprim-treated Bacillus subtilis. Proteomics Clin Appl 10, 1036-48 (2016)&nbsp;34.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Schriek P, Prochnow P, Albada HB, Metzler-Nolte N, Bandow JE. Influence of lipidation on the mode of action of a small RW-rich antimicrobial peptide. Biochim Biophys Acta 1858, 1004-11 (2016)&nbsp;2015&nbsp;35.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Senges CH, Zhang J, Suleman S, Nguyen M, Kumar P, Chiriac AI, Stepanek JJ, Raatschen N, May C, Krämer U, Sahl HG, Straus SK, Bandow JE. Antimicrobial peptides from the aurein family form ion-selective pores in Bacillus subtilis. ChemBioChem 16, 1101-8 (2015)&nbsp;36.&nbsp;&nbsp; Patra M, Wenzel M, Prochnow P, Pierroz V, Gasser G, Bandow JE, Metzler-Nolte N. An organometallic structure-activity relationship study reveals the essential role of a Re(CO)3 moiety in the activity against Gram-positive pathogens including MRSA. Chem Sci 6, 214-24 (2015)&nbsp;2014&nbsp;37.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Chiriac AI, Otto A, Zweytick D, May C, Schumacher C, Gust R, Albada HB, Penkova M, Krämer U, Erdmann R, Metzler-Nolte N, Straus SK, Bremer E, Becher D, Brötz-Oesterhelt H, Sahl HG, Bandow JE. Small cationic antimicrobial peptides delocalize peripheral membrane proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, E1409-18 (2014)&nbsp;38.&nbsp;&nbsp; Münch D, Müller A, Schneider T, Kohl B, Wenzel M, Bandow JE, Maffioli S, Sosio M, Donadio S, Wimmer R, Sahl HG. The lantibiotic NAI-107 binds to bactoprenol bound cell wall precursors and impairs membrane function. J Biol Chem 289, 12063-76 (2014)&nbsp;2013&nbsp;39.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M&amp;, Patra M&amp;, Senges CH, Ott I, Stepanek JJ, Pinto A, Prochnow P, Vuong C, Langklotz S, Metzler-Nolte N, Bandow JE. Analysis of the mechanism of action of potent antibacterial hetero-tri-organometallic compounds - a structurally new class of antibiotics. ACS Chem Biol 8, 1442-50 (2013)&nbsp;40.&nbsp;&nbsp; Raatschen N, Wenzel M, Leichert LIO, Düchting P, Krämer U, Bandow JE. Extracting iron and manganese from bacteria with ionophores – a potent strategy against competitors in an environment limited in micronutrients. Proteomics 13, 1358-70 (2013)&nbsp;2012&nbsp;41.&nbsp;&nbsp; Albada HB, Chiriac AI, Wenzel M, Penkova M, Bandow JE, Sahl HG, Metzler-Nolte N. Modulating the activity of short arginine-tryptophan containing antibacterial peptides with N-terminal metallocenoyl groups. Beilstein J Org Chem 8, 1753-64 (2012)&nbsp;42.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Kohl B, Münch D, Raatschen N, Albada HB, Hamoen L, Metzler-Nolte N, Sahl HG, Bandow JE. Proteomic response of Bacillus subtilis to lantibiotics reflects differences in interaction with the cytoplasmic membrane. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 56, 5149-57 (2012)&nbsp;43.&nbsp;&nbsp; Patra M, Gasser G, Wenzel M, Merz K, Bandow JE, Metzler-Nolte N. Sandwich and half-sandwich derivatives of platensimycin: synthesis and biological evaluation. Organometallics 31, 5760-71 (2012)&nbsp;2011&nbsp;44.&nbsp;&nbsp; Patra M, Gasser G, Wenzel M, Merz K, Bandow JE, Metzler-Nolte N. Synthesis of optically active ferrocene-containing platensimycin derivatives with a C6-C7 substitution pattern. Eur J Inorg Chem 22, 3295-302 (2011)&nbsp;45.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Bandow JE. Proteomic signatures in antibiotic research. Proteomics 11, 3256-68 (2011)&nbsp;46.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wenzel M, Patra M, Albrecht D, Chen DY, Nicolaou KC, Metzler-Nolte N, Bandow JE. Proteomic signature of fatty acid biosynthesis inhibition available for in vivo mechanism of action studies. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 55, 2590-6 (2011)&nbsp;2010&nbsp;47.&nbsp;&nbsp; Patra M, Gasser G, Wenzel M, Merz K, Bandow JE, Metzler-Nolte N. Synthesis and biological evaluation of ferrocene-containing bioorganometallics inspired by the platensimycin lead structure. Organometallics 29, 4312-9 (2010)

ORCID

Center for Antibiotic Resistance Research (CARe)

Wenzel lab

wenzelm_Michaela_Wenzel

Michaela Wenzel is examiner of the courses:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/UCM010/?acYear=2023%2F2024">UCM010</a> Introduction to cell and molecular biology<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/BBT035/?acYear=2023%2F2024">BBT035</a> Applied microbiology<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/KBB032/?acYear=2023%2F2024">KBB032</a> Biochemistry and molecular biology

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