Pharmacognosy
The Division of Pharmacognosy is focused on bioactive substances of natural origin. We develop strategies for selection, isolation and characterisation with the objective to discover unique bioactive chemical structures with drug potential, and to reveal unknown targets, by studying the evolutionary structure-activity optimization in Nature.
Research focus
In addition to the possibility to discover new drug candidates for drug development, bioactive natural products have potential as pharmacological tools, intermediates, or templates for synthesis of drugs. As a multidisciplinary division we conduct extensive national and international research collaborations in e.g. clinical pharmacology, marine chemical ecology, systematic botany and structural biology.
Our research represents a modernization and renewal of a venerable proven science, Pharmacognosy. With today's increased interest for environmental aspects, green chemistry, and a sustainable use of natural products, this renewal could have a strategic position in bridging chemistry and biology.
The ongoing projects are focused on chemistry and biology of ultra stable proteins, methods of selection and target-finding, antifouling and antibacterial molecules from marine organisms (sponges, nemertines), anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity of natural products.
The Pharmacognosy Research Group, BMC December 2015.
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Fieldwork: truffle hunting -
Isolation of cyclic peptides from plants -
Fieldwork: sponge collecting -
A deep-sea sponge crude extract with some antibacterial activity -
Extracting RNA from marine worms for transcriptomics -
Exploring the chemical space to select and predict new drug leads -
Growing and collecting violet leaves for peptide extractions -
Setting up a Leishmania assay -
Designing grafted peptides as new drug leads -
Extracting sponge DNA with magnetic beads
News
The Pharmacognosy welcomes new Master students!
21 September, 13.00
Faculty of Pharmacy day, welcome!
Contact and Open Positions
Publikationer
- Cyclotide Evolution: Insights from the Analyses of Their Precursor Sequences, Structures and Distribution in Violets (Viola). 2017
- Chemical Proteomics for Target Discovery of Head-to-Tail Cyclized Mini-Proteins. 2017
- Spasmolytic Mechanism of Aqueous Licorice Extract on Oxytocin-Induced Uterine Contraction through Inhibiting the Phosphorylation of Heat Shock Protein 27. 2017
- Essential oils of aromatic Egyptian plants repel nymphs of the tick Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae). 2017
- Bactericidal activity of cyclotides where phosphatidylethanolamine-lipid selectivity determines antimicrobial spectra. 2017