Structure-activity relationship
An LC-SPE-NMR and LC-MS metabolomics platform for structure-activity relationship investigations on natural products as new lead compounds is built up in the consortium. It is very efficient to identify in an early stage of the isolation and purification procedure as many compounds as possible in the mixture; the crude plant extract. Drugs of plant origin are mainly secondary metabolites (polyketides, terpenes, alkaloids, …) and therefore in this context it is preferable to focus on these product classes.
Metabolomics involves the combination of up-to-date technologies such as LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry) and LC-NMR (Liquid Chromatography – Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy) with modern information technology such as PCA (Principal Component Analysis) to process large amounts of data.
