PhD Project 9
Preclinical development of bioactive compounds isolated from marine microorganisms
Martin Heimböck
I am a PhD fellow in Biotechnology at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. My role in the HOTBIO project is the bioactivity testing of compounds discovered by other researchers in the project. More specifically, my research focuses on the investigation of ADME-Tox (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicology) properties, modes of action, and molecular targets auf compounds with promising bioactivity, primarily against cancer or bacterial infection. I hold a master’s degree in toxicology from Karolinska Institute and a bachelor’s in chemistry from Graz University of Technology.
Preclinical development of bioactive compounds isolated from marine microorganisms
Objectives: Bioprofiling of compounds in the securamine series (delivered by WP5) and its derivatives to be able to select the best compounds for further development. ADME profiling, to provide information about in vitro metabolism like plasma stability, microsomal stability, solubility and hepatocyte stability. The ESR will re-ferment the producing organisms to isolate sufficient amount of the bioactive natural products that will be tested in a broad bioassay panel together with the synthetic derivatives provided from WP5. The molecular target and the mode-of-action of the most promising compounds must be identified. The bioactive compounds will be tested for toxicity and their ADME properties to provide input for the chemical synthesis.
Supervisors: Jeanette H. Andersen and Espen H. Hansen
Host institution: UiT - the Arctic University of Norway
