Medicines from plants: Maastricht and York to unravel a biochemical mystery.
What if the key to new medicines against cancer or HIV lies not in a laboratory but is hidden away in the leaves of a plant? Scientists from Maastricht University and the University of York are joining forces to investigate precisely such a plant.
Thanks to a grant from the York-Maastricht Partnership, they can find out how plants of the Daphniphyllum species produce their possibly medicinal alkaloids. These are plant-based substances from which many well-known medicines are made, ranging from painkillers to antimalarial drugs. In particular, the alkaloids from Daphniphyllum look promising in the fight against cancer, HIV and other diseases. But no one knows how the plants make these substances.
The project is led by Dr Kumar Saurabh Singh (Maastricht University, Brightlands Future Farming Institute) and Professor Benjamin Lichman (University of York, Centre for Novel Agricultural Products). "Plants produce an enormous diversity of chemical substances, but linking individual substances to the responsible genes and enzymes remains extremely difficult. Combining computer-driven multi-omics with spatial information and laboratory experiments gives us an exciting opportunity to unravel previously unsolved biosynthesis," says Singh.
Lichman adds, "Daphniphyllum alkaloids are among the most complex natural products that plants make. By combining our experimental knowledge of plant biosynthesis with Maastricht's computational expertise and spatial omics, we can investigate how these plants form these remarkable substances."
The scientists will combine advanced analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry, spatial biology and computer models to map the genes and enzymes behind these alkaloids. To obtain the data they need, both researchers will cooperate with Professor Ron Heeren’s group of the Maastricht MultiModal Molecular Imaging Institute.
The research has a second aim as well. It is intended to yield a general method that is applicable to other plant species and agricultural crops. In the longer term, the collaboration should lead to more sustainable biotechnological applications.
