One of the key aims of the project is the discovery of new antibacterial, antifungal and/or antibiofilm agents (following single target or multitarget strategies) to fuel the antimicrobial armamentarium.
The project is focused on innovative drug discovery strategies based on privileged scaffolds and drug repurposing, which are ahead from the me-too and me-better approaches used so far by pharma industry. To speed up the process, the group established several collaborations, including with CO-ADD (Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery) and the LEPABE research center.
The project is also supported by the network of CA15135 Multi-target paradigm for innovative ligand identification in the drug discovery process (MuTaLig) and the national projects ABFish – Development of new antibiotics for aquaculture (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028397) and BOFILM – Development of novel biocide solutions for effective biofilm control (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030219).
Selected publications
- Malheiro J, Gomes I, Borges A, Bastos MM, Maillard JY, Borges F, Simões M. Phytochemical profiling as a solution to palliate disinfectant limitations. Biofouling. 2016; 32(9):1007-16.
- Borges A, Abreu AC, Dias C, Saavedra MJ, Borges F, Simões M. New Perspectives on the Use of Phytochemicals as an Emergent Strategy to Control Bacterial Infections Including Biofilms. Molecules. 2016; 21(7).
- Gonçalves AL, Abreu AC, Coqueiro A, Gaspar A, Borges F, Choi YH, Pires JCM, Simões M. Co-cultivation of Synechocystis salina and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata under varying phosphorus concentrations evidences an allelopathic competition scenario. RSC Adv. 2016, 6:56091-100.