Ludger Wessjohann, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), Germany

Title: Tumor-targeting with MCR-derived drugs and conjugates

Abstract: Although finding new bioactive principles is and will remain a cornerstone of drug development, it commonly is not the activity of a compound that poses an application problem, but bioavailability and specificity to a certain tissue, e.g. cancerous vs. healthy cells. Thus, modifications that improve selectivity and ADME-properties (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) are often more relevant topics than increasing potency, including so called targeting strategies with PDCs/ADCs (peptide/antibody drug conjugates). 
MCR technology is ideal to bring various functions in a molecule together in a defined combination. It therefore allows us to not only synthesize the bioactive war head but, ideally in one step, it can introduce linkers, membrane ankers, fluorescent dyes or other functions, or directly link targeting moieties at the same time. Especially useful is the Ugi reaction, as it is insensitive to water and allows us to generate and link peptides. I will present some of our recent works to improve and target bioactive molecules with the support of MCR chemistry in the fields of anticancer, antiinfective, and immunomodulatory applications in human and plant disease.

Short biography:  Professor Wessjohann studied organic chemistry in Hamburg (Germany), Southampton (UK) and Oslo (Norway). As Postdoc he worked on the total synthesis of Taxol with Paul Wender at Stanford U. (USA). He is an expert in the chemistry of natural products and their applications. His research spans from analytical via synthetic chemistry to mode of action studies of bioactive compounds, and their application in organisms. For data analyses also proprietary algorithms and informatics tools are developed. The knowledge generated is channelled into applications, e.g. for new drug leads, flavor compounds, or plant protectants. He received numerous scholarships, prizes and honors, e.g. the Microsoft IT Founders Award, or membership in the Brazilian Academy of Science. His research is published in some 600 publications and 30 patent families. h-index >75. He is a founding PI of the GLACIER world health centre (www.glacieronehealth.org), the German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Leibniz science campus “plant based bioeconomy”, “DiP - digitalization of plant-based value chains”, and other consortia to promote the sustainable use of plant and fungal chemistry in agriculture and health. He founded seven start-up companies and is advisor to science organizations, companies and governments.