Within the last decade research interests were focussed on the chemical synthesis of inner
core and Lipid A structures of bacterial lipopolysaccharides as well as capsular
polysaccharides and their conversion into artificial antigens which resulted in the practical
application for the clinical diagnosis of chlamydial infections.
Current
research interests are devoted to the development of protective antibodies against
gram-negative bacteria responsible for septic shock syndrome: Furthermore,
inhibition of the biosynthetic pathway of the vitally essential core-region (inhibitors of
Kdo transferases) may lead to novel antibiotics. Future aspects
will cover conformational studies by molecular modelling, x-ray cristallography of
kdo-oligosaccharides and of cocrystals obtained with synthetic ligands and Fab
fragments of monoclonal antibodies as well as novel chemical strategies for the
synthesis of complex oligosaccharides and supramolecular antigens.