Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Development of a sustainable platform in linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) for molecular pharming of podophyllotoxin from Indian mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum Royle.), in keeping with international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Mohd Ashfaq, Jamia Hamdard, Delhi |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | ashraf@jamiahamdard.ac.in |
Equipments : | Refrigerated Micro centrifuge
Semi-dry transfer unit for Western blotting
Horizontal laminar air flow cabinet |
Details
Executive Summary : | Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, also known as Indian mayapple or Himalayan mayapple, is a significant pharmaceutical resource due to its presence of podophyllotoxin (PTOX), a natural type of aryltetralin lignan. PTOX is a precursor for the synthesis of etoposide, teniposide, and etopophos, which are used in the production of anticancer drugs. However, mayapple's unscrupulous harvesting and over-exploitation by the pharma industry have led to its extinction. PTOX inhibits mitotic spindle formation, and derivatives like etoposide have been generated to circumvent its systemic toxicity in cancer chemotherapy. Linseed, a source of oil, fiber, and nutritionally enriched lignans, may emerge as a sustainable alternative for producing deoxyPTOX and etoposide aglycone. Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), a bioactive lignan from linseed, is upstream of PTOX in the biosynthetic phenylpropanoid pathway. Linseed is a viable platform for sustainable molecular pharming of functionally active deoxyPTOX and etoposide aglycone. Molecular pharming involves expressing and producing proteins of pharmaceutical importance native to one system in a system of choice. In this project, seven enzymes unique to the accumulation of deoxyPTOX and etoposide aglycone from mayapple will be expressed in a sustainable model platform system, such as linseed, to divert the unwarranted over-exploitation of mayapple for PTOX. |
Co-PI: | Dr. MDSalik Noorani Khan, Jamia Hamdard, Delhi-110062 |
Total Budget (INR): | 35,35,287 |
Organizations involved