Leyva Peña, Alejandro

Research interests

Identification of molecular targets and mechanisms of action of antimycobacterial compounds through thermal proteome profiling in intact cells.

Working area

My current research focuses on bacteria of the order Mycobacteriales, with an emphasis on the identification of novel targets and mechanisms of action of antimycobacterial compounds. Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death worldwide from a single infectious agent, and the growing emergence of multidrug-resistant strains highlights the urgent need to develop new therapeutic strategies. In this context, and considering that proteins constitute the main targets of pharmacological agents, proteomic approaches provide a particularly powerful platform for the unbiased, large-scale analysis of interactions between drugs and biological systems.

One of the central focuses of my research is the development and implementation of advanced mass spectrometry methodologies, with an emphasis on approaches such as Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) and different interactomics strategies aimed at elucidating the mechanisms of action of antimycobacterial compounds. These approaches enable the detection of changes in protein thermal stability or interaction networks in response to drug exposure, facilitating the direct or indirect identification of molecular targets.