LIN Seminar: “From Seeds to Leads: Developing Plant Alkaloids into Neuroscience Tools and Drug Leads” by Andrew Riley
October 1, 2020
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Abstract: For decades, the investigation of psychoactive natural products and neuroscience have gone hand-in-hand. Naturally occurring compounds such as morphine, cocaine, and epibatidine have served as valuable pharmacological tools to shed light on nervous system function. These same natural products have also been translated into effective medicines, as in the case of morphine and its semi-synthetic derivatives have served as the cornerstone of pain management. However, the ongoing Opioid Epidemic–characterized by >40,000 annual opioid overdose deaths–highlights the problems with current treatment options and a pressing need to discovery safer, less-addictive pain medicines. Remarkably, it is against this backdrop that citizens and drug discovery scientists alike have returned to nature for inspiration to identify new pain treatments. Here I will describe an interdisciplinary effort to investigate the seeds of the akuamma tree (Picralima nitida), a traditionally treatment for pain in western Africa that is growing in popularity in the United States. Through a combination of detailed chemical and pharmacological investigations, we demonstrate the effects of several natural products found in commercial akuamma seeds, providing insight into the effects of akuamma seeds and new scaffolds that can be developed into new tools and drug leads.
Zoom information:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uic.zoom.us/j/91701484741?pwd=QUh0T0pjQWYxK2hIOFk2NDRkbWVWZz09
Meeting ID: 917 0148 4741
Passcode: L1Ntalk!
Date posted
Aug 25, 2020
Date updated
Sep 28, 2020