On Monday 26 November, a doctoral defense will take place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland. Then protect J. Sophie RE Jensen pharmacist's doctoral dissertation: "Bioactive natural ingredients from Icelandic mushroom moss - protozoan and cancer cell inhibitory activity" (English: "Bioactive compounds from Icelandic liverworts - anti-protozoal and cytotoxic activity").
On Monday 26 November, a doctoral defense will take place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland. Then protect J. Sophie RE Jensen pharmacist's doctoral dissertation: „Bioactive natural ingredients from Icelandic mushroom moss - protozoan and cancer cell inhibitory activity " (English: "Bioactive compounds from Icelandic liverworts - anti-protozoal and cytotoxic activity").
Opponents are Dr. Lars Bohlin, professor at Uppsala University in Sweden and Dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson, research director and head of Matís' biotechnology and biochemistry department.
The supervisor of the project was Dr. Elín Soffía Ólafsdóttir, professor and co-supervisor Dr. Sesselja Ómarsdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland.
Dr. Már Másson, President of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Iceland, will preside over the ceremony, which will take place in the celebration hall, Aðalbygginga, starting at 2 p.m.
Mushrooms are a group of primitive mosses that produce unusual bioactive compounds. These plants have been used in oriental folk medicine for centuries, mainly as a diuretic, for cancer, bacterial and fungal infections.
The aim of the study was to isolate and determine the molecular structure of compounds from Icelandic fungal mosses Marchantia polymorpha and Chiloscyphus pallescens, focusing on bioactivity against cancer cells and protozoa. Bioactivity-induced isolation of carcinogenic agents led to the bis-bibenzyl compound marchantin A. It inhibited cell proliferation in several types of breast cells, as well as showing a synergistic, cytotoxic effect on cancer cells when administered with the Aurora-A kinase inhibitor MLN823 ML1. The inhibitory effect of marchantin A on several pathogenic protozoa was also demonstrated, including Plasmodium falciparum causing malaria. In addition, marchantin A showed an inhibition of the enzyme PfFAbZ in the liver form of the protozoan which may indicate disease-preventive uses.
Taken together, the results of the project have increased knowledge of the chemistry of these two species of fungal mosses and demonstrated unprecedented bioactivity of pathogenic cells in culture, which could have pharmacological value.
Sophie worked for a few months on her project for partners in Copenhagen. Functional tests on protozoa were carried out by partners, Dr. Morten A. Nielsen at the University of Copenhagen and Dr. Deniz Tasdemir at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of London. In addition, the project was partly carried out at the Laboratory of Oncology at the University of Iceland Faculty of Medicine with Dr. Helga M. Ögmundsdóttir who also sat on Sophie's doctoral committee. In addition to her and her supervisors, the committee included Dr. Jerzy W. Jaroszewski Professor at the University of Copenhagen (he died on October 18, 2011) and Dr. Már Másson, Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland.
English abstract
Liverworts are a group of primitive mosses that produce unique compounds of potential interest for pharmacological research. They have been applied in oriental folk medicine as diuretics, anti-tumor, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents. The general aim of the project was to isolate and characterize bioactive compounds from the Icelandic liverworts Marchantia polymorpha and Chiloscyphus pallescens, with focus on cytotoxic and anti-protozoal bioactivity. Bio-guided isolation led to the bis-bibenzyl compound marchantin A, which proved cytotoxic to several types of breast cancer cells. Further studies on cancer cells showed that merchant A and the Aurora-A kinase inhibitor MLN8237 act synergistically. Furthermore, marchantin A was shown to be parasitocidal against several types of pathogenic protozoa, including the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, as well as showing malaria prophylactic potential by inhibiting the PfFAbZ enzyme of the liver stage of the infection.
The results have contributed significantly to the knowledge of distribution of liverworts compounds in the two Icelandic liverwort species and furthermore demonstrated previously unknown biological effects of therapeutic interest.
About Sophie
J. Sophie RE Jensen (b. 1979) graduated with a master's degree in pharmacology from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Iceland in 2006 and took 1 semester in an exchange program at the University of Copenhagen in 2004. In the years 2006-7 Sophie took 3 months of internship in a laboratory at Novartis in Boston 3 months in Asia and Oceania and worked part time for Lyfja and Íshestur. Sophie began her doctoral studies in 2008.
Sophie's parents are Elsa Jensen and Peter Ydregård. Sophie's husband is Sigurður Arnar Friðriksson and their daughter is Sól Lilja.