# Small molecule inhibitors of bacterial condensins

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · 2020 · $193,750

## Abstract

Small molecule inhibitors of bacterial condensins
ABSTRACT
The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria presents a rapidly expanding threat to
public health. Among enteric bacteria, in particular, several species have evolved that are resistant to all
presently available antibiotics resulting in high mortality rates among affected patients. This proposal aims to
develop bacterial condensins as a novel antimicrobial drug target. Condensins play a central role in
chromosome organization, an essential cellular function, and are required for cell viability and pathogenicity in
a diverse range of organisms. Bacterial and eukaryotic condensins display sufficient sequence divergence to
expect the existence of highly selective inhibitors. The applicant has recently developed and validated a novel
high throughput screening cascade for condensin inhibitors. This proposal seeks to perform the screen on a
large library of compounds and natural products. The results will likely yield novel chemical probes for
chromosome biology and new chemical scaffolds against a novel target suitable for further preclinical
development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9964657
- **Project number:** 5R21AI141927-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
- **Principal Investigator:** VALENTIN V RYBENKOV
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9964657

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9964657, Small molecule inhibitors of bacterial condensins (5R21AI141927-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9964657. Licensed CC0.

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