Research project
Unlocking Nature’s Pharmacy from Bogland Species
Development of Natural Resource for New Medicines
- Duration
- 2021 - 2024
- Contact
- Young Hae Choi
- Funding
- Endowment Grant via Department of Justice in Ireland programme, to address a national priority
- Partners
Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland)
Description
The work of Leiden University follows two stages: 1) chemical (metabolic) profiling of various Irish plants based on multiplatform metabolomics and 2) optimization of the production of targeted metabolites and their chemical identification using preparative tools.
In the first stage, a variety of Irish plants provided by other groups will be assessed for their chemical profiles. The obtained data, particularly for metabolic fingerprinting will be used to build up metabolic database of Irish plants with a help of a bioinformatician group.
In the 2nd stage for the optimization of the production of targeted metabolites and their chemical identification using preparative tools, the selected plants will be further investigated. For the selected plants and the information on bioactive metabolites, firstly preanalytical methods e.g. extraction and purification will be optimized. For example, the extraction by controlling polarity of solvent, temperature and pressure will be optimized to produce the active metabolites.
The obtained extracts and fractions will be purified to yield active components and they will be identified by diverse spectroscopic methods including NMR and MS. Then, the identified metabolites will be provided for more detailed bioactivity tests.
