Main Research Interests
The department of Pharmacognosy at the Institute of Pharmacy at the University of Innsbruck has four main research interests. They are (a) the isolation and structural elucidation of secondary metabolites from higher plants with anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-microbial activity, (b) chemosystematic investigations mainly focusing on the tribe Lactuceae, (c) analysis and quality assessment of (medicinal) plants and phyto-pharmaceuticals, as well as (d) the discovery of pharmacologically active natural products using
The search for novel natural products, which could be used as potential drugs or serve as lead compounds is performed by using modern phytochemical and analytical techniques (gas chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, capillary electrochromatography, mass spectrometry). This research is performed with special focus on European and Asian medicinal plants, or plants of the alpine region. Chemosystematic studies performed at the department aim to reveal relations between different plant taxa (or confirm them) by comparative phytochemical and analytical approaches.
Analytical tasks (standardization, method development, validation and quality assessment of plant-extracts), for which modern analytical instrumentation (e.g. LC-MS or CE-MS) is available in house, are often performed in collaboration with domestic and international companies. These collaborations, besides basic research, allow very practice- and application-oriented scientific investigations. For a target oriented search for active compounds several test models are established at the department. Computer aided pharmakophor-models utilize structural properties to detect pharmacologically active natural products (e.g. with acetylcholinesterase inhibiting activity). Enzyme assays (acetylcholinesterase, cytochromes), on the other hand, are employed for the screening of plant extracts and pure compounds.
This combination of several different approaches (analytical, chemosystematics, and pharmacology, besides “classical” phytochemistry) offers means for an extensive and efficient research on pharmacognostic issues. A number of publications in internationally renowned journals, as well as projects and cooperations indicate the significance and quality of the conducted research and underline the experience and supra-regional importance of the department of Pharmacognosy in the field of natural products research.
Funded Research Projects
Austrian Science Foundation (FWF)
Abiotic stress in extremophiles - strategies and utilization (P24168)
Project leader: Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Markus Ganzera
Funding period: 2012-2015
Project description: The term extremophile describes an organism that exists under extreme physical or geochemichal conditions. Our project systematically studies changes in the metabolic patterns of alpine high altitude green algae and cyanobacteria exposed to elevated UVA and UVB radiation. This encompasses the selection and cultivation of algae in larger scale, the identification and analysis of respective compounds, as well as studying their bioactivity focusing on anti-inflammatory and skin protecting properties. Thus, aspects of ecology, phytochemistry, analytical sciences and pharmacology are joined in a unique way, creating a stable foundation for further research on a group of organisms that largely has been overlooked by science till date.
NFN-Project: Drugs from Nature Targeting Inflammation (ZFS107010, ZFS107030)
Coordination (Project Part 01): Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hermann Stuppner
Project leader (Project Part 03): Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hermann Stuppner
Associate: Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Judith M. Rollinger
1st Funding period: 01.04.2008 - 31.03.2011
2nd Funding period: 01.04.2011 - 31.03.2014
Taxonomic revesion of the Genus Leontopodium (P19480)
Project leader: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hermann Stuppner
Funding period: 2007 - 2010
Project description: The project aims at a total taxonomic revision of the genus Leontopodium. The used interdisciplinary approach combines several genetic methods, investigations of morphological properties as well as cheomotaxonomic aspects. Differences of the secondary metabolite profiles of individual Edelweiss species are compared by 1H-NMR based metabolic profiling.
Inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase from plants (P18379)
Project leader: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hermann Stuppner
Funding period: 2005 – 2008
Project description: For the efficient discovery of plant constituents with improved bioavailability and anticholinesterase activity two strategies are followed up, i) the computer-aided drug discovery and ii) a random screening by means of a bioautographic thin layer chromatography test. The computer-aided drug discovery allows virtual screening of 3D databases consisting of natural constituents. These are screened against a pharmacophore model generated from the AChE crystal structure co-crystallized with galanthamine. Random search of secondary plant metabolites for AChE inhibitory activity is performed by a bioautographic thin layer chromatographic test using Ellman’s reagent. Promising plant crude extracts are enriched in bioguided manner focusing on the isolation plant constituent/s with reliable potency to inhibit AChE. For both approaches an in vitro enzyme assay for the quantitative determination of the AChE inhibitory activity as well as in vivo release of acetylcholine in the nucleus accumbens of rat brain are conducted. These results are accomplished by behaviour tests to evaluate memory enhancement in mice.
Systematic Investigations of the Tribe Lactuceae (P15594)
Project leader: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hermann Stuppner
Funding period: 2002 - 2006
Project description: In the course of the proposed project phytochemical and molecular- biologic investigation of members of the tribe Lactuceae (Asteraceae), with a focus on the subtribes Crepidinae, Hypochoerinae and Scorzonerinae were performed. One aim of the project was the finding of new natural products or even classes of natural products, their isolation and structure elucidation by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the occurrence of these new compounds as well as the occurrence of known compounds within the tribes mentioned above was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The obtained quantification data were processed by multivariate data analysis.
Austrian 'Forschungsfördergesellschaft' (FFG)
Natural product derivatives for the treatment of dementia diseases
Project leader: A.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Judith Rollinger
Funding period: 2005 - 2007
Project description: The aim of this project is the discovery of NPs and derivatives thereof endowed with beneficial properties towards neurodegenerative diseases. Virtual screening filtering experiments revealed some natural and semi-synthetic alkaloids form the morphinan type as promising AChE inhibitors. The focused target within this project is to find and synthesize multi-potential AChE-inhibitors from this chemical class, which should show a lack of adverse side effects, beneficial ADME parameters and favourably modulating effects on the nicotinic ACh- and NMDA-receptor. By means of diverse computer-assisted methods in combination with knowledge from in vitro and in vivo results a target-oriented procedure will be aspired, enabling (i) a time- and cost saving discovery/synthesis of promising drug candidates and (ii) an insight into their molecular bio-mechanism.
National and Academic Funds
Computer-assisted Data Mining Tools for the Discovery of Bioactive Natural Products
Project leader: A.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Judith Rollinger
Funding period: 2006 – 2007
Project description: The aim of this project is to acquire and apply neural network techniques in order to close the gap between structural information of NPs and their biological activity using statistical and pattern recognition methods of chemoinformatics. An integrated approach with the classical virtual screening filtering techniques is intended and shall help to (i) evaluate and compare the different strategies; (ii) improve the knowledge of the enzymes’ binding sites; (iii) gain insight into the structure-activity relationship; (iv) distinguish hits from non-hits, and (v) in turn, straighten forward the efficient search for bioactive NPs. The focused targets for this project are acetylcholinesterase, the rhinovirus capside binding site and cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Altitudinal variation of secondary metabolite profiles in higher plants
Project leader: A.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christian Zidorn
Funding period: 2005 – 2006
Project description:The main focus of the intended investigation is the UV-B induced accumulation of secondary plant metabolites with a supposed UV-absorbing and/or radical scavenging activity under ambient solar conditions in flowering heads of the medicinal plant Arnica montana. Flavonoids and phenolic acids in extracts from flowering heads collected in different altitudes will be quantified using HPLC and the radical scavenging potential of these extracts will be assessed using the DPPH assay. The secondary metabolite profiles of plants grown under ambient solar conditions will be compared to those of plants grown under enhanced UV-B radiation. The obtained results will be discussed in the light of the putative UV-B protection function of phenolic compounds for the plants producing them.