Phytochemical biology and pharmacology
Natural products are at the core of our research, including plant-derived phenols, terpenoids, pimeranes, and macrolides as well as metabolites of fat soluble vitamins. Our goal is to identify molecular targets, unravel mechanisms of action and elucidate pharmacophores. In interdisciplinary collaboration with pharmacists, organic chemists, structural biologists, bioanalytical scientists, bioinformaticians specialists, cell biologists, nutritional scientists, and physicians, we perform structure-activity relationship studies, address binding modes and investigate the (patho)physiological/pharmacological properties, taking into account in vivo-relevant processes. Our findings provide fundamental insights into mitogenic, stress-adaptive and pro-inflammatory signaling (small molecules as tools), establish the molecular basis for their use in phytomedicine, and promote the discovery of novel phytopharmaceuticals and bio-inspired lead structures.
