LOEWE Zentrum Druid -Project E4
- The LOEWE Center DRUID investigates urgent issues in identifying and characterizing potential target molecules for the development of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tools to combat poverty-associated, neglected infectious diseases.The aim of Project E4 is to adapt, expand, and use imaging mass spectrometry examination methods to answer questions arising in the LOEWE Center. In particular, increasing spatial resolution to 1 µm for the investigation of the parasites and the infected host cells is of importance.5 Moreover, the examination of non-planar, intact objects (worm parasites, insects) by means of 3D surface examination is to be developed. This completely new method will be usable in many ways in the center, especially for examining the (bio-) chemical surfaces of pathogenic host interactions. Within the DRUID Center, metabolomic, lipidomic, and proteomic characterizations of parasites and pathogens are to be examined at different stages of development.
- Figure 1: A and B: Lipids that are characteristic for the female (A) and in the male (B) S. mansoni worm. C and D: Imatinib distribution in S. mansoni pairs with different incubation times (C: 20 min; D: 1h). Imatinib is shown here in green. E: Imatinib distribution in Fasciola hepatica after an incubation of 4 h with the drug imatinib (shown in green). F: Hamster liver tissue infected with S. mansoni eggs. Shown in yellow is a lipid that is significantly enriched in the granuloma region.