Michaela Wenzel

Associate Professor at Molecular Bioscience

I am a microbiologist interested in antibiotic mechanisms of action and bacterial mechanisms of resistance. My group uses fluorescence and electron microscopy together with proteomic and spectroscopic techniques to study the interaction of antimicrobial compounds with bacterial cells with a focus on the bacterial cell envelope. The goal is to provide a deeper fundamental understanding of how antibiotics interact with bacterial cells and use this knowledge to develop more sustainable antibiotics and novel antibacterial strategies.

Source: orcid.org
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Showing 52 publications

2026

Expanding the DNA damaging potential of artificial metallo-nucleases with click chemistry

Alex Gibney, Margareth Sidarta, Eva Delahunt et al
Nature Communications. Vol. 17 (1)
Journal article
2025

Contribution of the Bacillus subtilis ytrGABCDEF operon to antibiotic stress adaptation

Luna Baruah, Margareth Sidarta, Pauline Hammer Ur Skuoy et al
Microbiology spectrum. Vol. 14 (1)
Journal article
2025

The last resort antibiotic daptomycin exhibits two independent antibacterial mechanisms of action

Jessica A. Buttress, Ann-Britt Schäfer, Alan Koh et al
Nature Communications. Vol. 16 (1)
Journal article
2025

Fluoroquinolones as versatile scaffolds: Potential for targeting classical and novel mechanisms to combat antibacterial resistance

Ahmed M.Kamal El-sagheir, Michaela Wenzel, Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma
European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Vol. 214
Review article
2024

Lipid phase separation impairs membrane thickness sensing by the Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase DesK

Margareth Sidarta, Ana I. Lorente Martin, Anuntxi Monsalve et al
Microbiology spectrum. Vol. 12 (6)
Journal article
2024

Nature inspired unique antimicrobial peptides from Chilean marine sediments

Luisa Beyer, Ann-Britt Schäfer, Agustina Natalia Undabarrena Canusso et al
Journal of Peptide Science. Vol. 30 (2), p. P2055-P2055
Other text in scientific journal
2024

The Diverse Activities and Mechanisms of the Acylphloroglucinol Antibiotic Rhodomyrtone: Antibacterial Activity and Beyond

Rupa Rani, Gabriela Marino Righetto, Ann-Britt Schäfer et al
Antibiotics. Vol. 13 (10)
Review article
2024

Membrane depolarization kills dormant Bacillus subtilis cells by generating a lethal dose of ROS

Declan Alan Gray, Biwen Wang, Margareth Sidarta et al
Nature Communications. Vol. 15 (1)
Journal article
2024

Mimicking Nonribosomal Peptides from the Marine Actinomycete Streptomyces sp. H-KF8 Leads to Antimicrobial Peptides

Luisa I. Beyer, Ann-Britt Schäfer, Agustina Undabarrena et al
ACS Infectious Diseases. Vol. 10 (1), p. 79-92
Journal article
2024

Dissecting antibiotic effects on the cell envelope using bacterial cytological profiling: a phenotypic analysis starter kit

Ann-Britt Schafer, Margareth Sidarta, Ireny Abdelmesseh Nekhala Abdelmesseh et al
Microbiology spectrum. Vol. 12 (3)
Journal article
2023

N4-Substituted Piperazinyl Norfloxacin Derivatives with Broad-Spectrum Activity and Multiple Mechanisms on Gyrase, Topoisomerase IV, and Bacterial Cell Wall Synthesis

Ahmed M. Kamal El-Sagheir, Ireny Abdelmesseh Nekhala Abdelmesseh, Mohammed K. Abd El-Gaber et al
ACS Bio and Med Chem Au. Vol. 3 (6), p. 494-506
Journal article
2023

Tracking Global and Local Changes in Membrane Fluidity Through Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Microscopy

Madeleine Humphrey, Ireny Abdelmesseh Nekhala Abdelmesseh, Kathi Scheinpflug et al
Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 2601, p. 203-229
Book chapter
2023

Dual Action of Eeyarestatin 24 on Sec-Dependent Protein Secretion and Bacterial DNA

Ann-Britt Schäfer, Maurice Steenhuis, Kin Ki Jim et al
ACS Infectious Diseases. Vol. 9 (2), p. 253-269
Journal article
2023

Design, Synthesis, Molecular Modeling, Biological Activity, and Mechanism of Action of Novel Amino Acid Derivatives of Norfloxacin

Ahmed M. Kamal El-sagheir, Ireny Abdelmesseh Nekhala Abdelmesseh, Mohammed K. Abd El-Gaber et al
ACS Omega. Vol. 8 (45), p. 43271-43284
Journal article
2023

Rational design, synthesis, molecular modeling, biological activity, and mechanism of action of polypharmacological norfloxacin hydroxamic acid derivatives

Ahmed M. Kamal El-sagheir, Ireny Abdelmesseh Nekhala Abdelmesseh, Mohammed K. Abd El-Gaber et al
RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Vol. 14 (12), p. 2593-2610
Journal article
2022

Roles of Bacterial Mechanosensitive Channels in Infection and Antibiotic Susceptibility

Margareth Sidarta, Luna Baruah, Michaela Wenzel
Pharmaceuticals. Vol. 15 (7)
Review article
2022

SepF supports the recruitment of the DNA translocase SftA to the Z-ring

Terrens N.V. Saaki, Zihao Teng, Michaela Wenzel et al
Molecular Microbiology. Vol. 117 (5), p. 1263-1274
Journal article
2021

A flat embedding method for transmission electron microscopy reveals an unknown mechanism of tetracycline

Michaela Wenzel, Marien P. Dekker, Biwen Wang et al
Communications Biology. Vol. 4 (1), p. 306-306
Journal article
2021

Comparison of proteomic responses as global approach to antibiotic mechanism of action elucidation

Christoph H.R. Senges, Jennifer J. Stepanek, Michaela Wenzel et al
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol. 65 (1)
Journal article
2021

Control of septum thickness by the curvature of SepF polymers

Michaela Wenzel, Ilkay N. Celik Gulsoy, Yongqiang Gao et al
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 118 (2)
Journal article
2020

Do we really understand how antibiotics work?

Michaela Wenzel
Future Microbiology. Vol. 15 (14), p. 1307-1311
Review article
2020

Multitarget Approaches against Multiresistant Superbugs

Declan Alan Gray, Michaela Wenzel
ACS Infectious Diseases. Vol. 6 (6), p. 1346-1365
Review article
2020

A How-To Guide for Mode of Action Analysis of Antimicrobial Peptides

Ann-Britt Schäfer, Michaela Wenzel
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology. Vol. 10
Review article
2019

Membranaktive Antibiotika: neue Mechanismen gegen ein altbekanntes Ziel

Michaela Wenzel
BioSpektrum. Vol. 25 (6), p. 683-683
Journal article
2018

Bactericidal activity of amphipathic cationic antimicrobial peptides involves altering the membrane fluidity when interacting with the phospholipid bilayer

Soraya Omardien, Jan W. Drijfhout, Frederic M. Vaz et al
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes. Vol. 1860 (11), p. 2404-2415
Journal article
2018

Assessing Membrane Fluidity and Visualizing Fluid Membrane Domains in Bacteria Using Fluorescent Membrane Dyes

Michaela Wenzel, Norbert O. E. Vischer, Henrik Strahl et al
Bio-protocol. Vol. 8 (20)
Journal article
2018

The novel antibiotic rhodomyrtone traps membrane proteins in vesicles with increased fluidity

Dennapa Saeloh, Varomyalin Tipmanee, Kin Ki Jim et al
PLoS Pathogens. Vol. 14 (2)
Journal article
2018

The Multifaceted Antibacterial Mechanisms of the Pioneering Peptide Antibiotics Tyrocidine and Gramicidin S

Michaela Wenzel, Marina Rautenbach, J. Arnold Vosloo et al
mBio. Vol. 9 (5), p. e00802-e00818
Journal article
2017

Antimicrobial peptide cWFW kills by combining lipid phase separation with autolysis

Kathi Scheinpflug, Michaela Wenzel, Oxana Krylova et al
Scientific Reports. Vol. 7
Journal article
2017

Editorial: Antimicrobial Peptides - Interaction with Membrane Lipids and Proteins

Michaela Wenzel, Leendert W. Hamoen
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. Vol. 5
Other text in scientific journal
2017

Effects of rhodomyrtone on Gram-positive bacterial tubulin homologue FtsZ

Dennapa Saeloh, Michaela Wenzel, Thanyada Rungrotmongkol et al
PeerJ. Vol. 5
Journal article
2017

Free SepF interferes with recruitment of late cell division proteins

Yongqiang Gao, Michaela Wenzel, Martijs J. Jonker et al
Scientific Reports. Vol. 7 (1)
Journal article
2016

Towards Profiles of Resistance Development and Toxicity for the Small Cationic Hexapeptide RWRWRW-NH2

Michaela Wenzel, Pascal Prochnow, Catherine Mowbray et al
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. Vol. 4
Journal article
2016

Purine biosynthesis is the bottleneck in trimethoprim-treated Bacillus subtilis

Jennifer J. Stepanek, Sina Schäkermann, Michaela Wenzel et al
Proteomics - Clinical Applications. Vol. 10 (9-10), p. 1036-1048
Journal article
2016

Daptomycin inhibits cell envelope synthesis by interfering with fluid membrane microdomains

Anna Müller, Michaela Wenzel, Henrik Strahl et al
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 113 (45), p. E7077-E7086
Journal article
2016

Influence of lipidation on the mode of action of a small RW-rich antimicrobial peptide

Michaela Wenzel, Patrick Schriek, Pascal Prochnow et al
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes. Vol. 1858 (5), p. 1004-1111
Journal article
2015

Antimicrobial Peptides from the Aurein Family Form Ion-Selective Pores in Bacillus subtilis

Michaela Wenzel, Christoph H.R. Senges, Jin Zhang et al
ChemBioChem. Vol. 16 (7), p. 1101-1108
Journal article
2015

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

Malay Patra, Michaela Wenzel, Pascal Prochnow et al
Chemical Science. Vol. 6 (1), p. 214-224
Journal article
2014

Small cationic antimicrobial peptides delocalize peripheral membrane proteins.

Michaela Wenzel, Alina Iulia Chiriac, Andreas Otto et al
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 111 (14), p. E1409-E1418
Journal article
2014

The lantibiotic NAI-107 binds to bactoprenol-bound cell wall precursors and impairs membrane functions

Daniela Münch, Anna Müller, Tanja Schneider et al
Journal of Biological Chemistry. Vol. 289 (17), p. 12063-12076
Journal article
2014

Inorganic and Organometallic Antimicrobial Peptides

Bauke Albada, Sandra Bobersky, Nils Metzler-Nolte et al
Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Vol. 3 (1), p. S599-S599
Other text in scientific journal
2013

Analysis of the mechanism of action of potent antibacterial hetero-tri-organometallic compounds: a structurally new class of antibiotics

Michaela Wenzel, Malay Patra, Christoph H.R. Senges et al
ACS Chemical Biology. Vol. 8 (7), p. 1442-1450
Journal article
2013

Extracting iron and manganese from bacteria with ionophores - a mechanism against competitors characterized by increased potency in environments low in micronutrients

Nadja Raatschen, Michaela Wenzel, Lars I. Leichert et al
Proteomics. Vol. 13 (8), p. 1358-1370
Journal article
2012

Proteomic response of Bacillus subtilis to lantibiotics reflects differences in interaction with the cytoplasmic membrane

Michaela Wenzel, Bastian Kohl, Daniela Münch et al
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol. 56 (11), p. 5749-5757
Journal article
2012

Proteomic signatures in antibiotic research

Michaela Wenzel, Julia E. Bandow
Proteomics. Vol. 11 (15), p. 3256-3268
Review article
2012

Sandwich and Half-Sandwich Derivatives of Platensimycin: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation

Malay Patra, Gilles Gasser, Michaela Wenzel et al
Organometallics. Vol. 31 (16), p. 5760-5771
Journal article
2012

Modulating the activity of short arginine-tryptophan containing antibacterial peptides with N-terminal metallocenoyl groups

Bauke Albada, Alina Iulia Chiriac, Michaela Wenzel et al
Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. Vol. 8, p. 1753-1764
Journal article
2011

Proteomic signature of fatty acid biosynthesis inhibition available for in vivo mechanism-of-action studies

Michaela Wenzel, Malay Patra, Dirk Albrecht et al
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol. 55 (6), p. 2590-2596
Journal article
2011

Synthesis of optically active ferrocene-containing platensimycin derivatives with a C6-C7 substitution pattern

Malay Patra, Gilles Gasser, Michaela Wenzel et al
European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. Vol. 2011 (22), p. 2590-2596
Journal article
2010

Synthesis and biological evaluation of ferrocene-containing bioorganometallics inspired by the platensimycin lead structure

Malay Patra, Gilles Gasser, Michaela Wenzel et al
Organometallics. Vol. 29 (19), p. 4312-4319
Journal article

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