I-Corps: New Methods in Plant-Based Drug Discovery

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro TN

Investigators

Abstract

A serious global healthcare crisis exists that is driving the search for new treatments for drug resistant microbes, aggressive cancers, and an increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases. To provide these novel therapies, pharmaceutical companies need an economical source of novel bioactive compounds to drive their product pipelines. This I-Corps team will provide these new compounds from endangered plant products that have remained untouched due to their conservation status. This novel concept not only has excellent potential for developing a broad spectrum of natural product derived therapeutics, but sustainable plant culture methods will also advance our understanding of effective conservation efforts to protect these endangered species. Working with these plants in a laboratory environment allows scientists to stress the plants to maximize the production of their defensive compounds. These immune response chemicals of the plant may not be detectable in its natural environment, but it is these compounds that will have the greatest potential for bioactivity. Endangered plants, because of their risk for extinction, have rarely been screened for bioactive compounds. Screening these novel plants will be the main focus of the company, but the same technology will provide protocols for the conservation and sustainable use of endangered plants. This I-Corps team has developed and optimized screening and isolation methods through its work with the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research to successfully test this proof-of-concept. The conventional approach of initially screening crude extracts could miss compounds active in trace amounts, such as signaling molecules, but methods being developed by this team will efficiently resolve extracts from different stressors into 5 to 10 compounds/sample. These samples will be initially screened in a 96-well format for activity in established anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory bioassays. Samples of interest will be further fractionated to pure compounds and rescreened to identify active compounds. This novel pipeline of drug leads will be very attractive for prospective partnerships and licensing with pharmaceutical companies while the team continues to develop high impact leads. Any lead that makes it to market will have an enormous impact on the lives of patients and their families.