Presentation
A considerable number of medicines have plant origins. Brazil holds the greatest biodiversity on the planet, composed of ecosystems such as the Amazon Rainforest, the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado, and other biomes of great relevance, still little explored by science. The Biodiversity Research Center at UNIP was created with the purpose of conducting large-scale studies in these environments. Recently, projects developed with Antarctic flora have begun to be carried out by our researchers, in a high-impact international initiative. For this, samples of plant extracts are obtained and tested in biological, pharmacological, or phytochemical models. The active extracts are selected and fractionated in order to identify the compound responsible for the observed biological activity. Programs of this nature seek to test a large number of samples in a short period of time, using minimal quantities of extract. The NPBio (Núcleo de Pesquisa e Pesquisa em Próbio - Center for Research and Research in Biomedicine) integrates the Postgraduate Program in Environmental and Experimental Pathology and contributes significantly to the advancement of research in these and other related areas, such as Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology, Toxicology, Microbiology, Natural Products Chemistry, Ecology, and Botany.
Specific Objectives:
- To train human resources in Sciences, with an emphasis on the area of ​​Health;
- To develop studies aimed at identifying new drugs from plants found in the Amazon Rainforest and the Atlantic Forest, two important Brazilian biomes, and from plants found in the Antarctic Continent;
- To identify pharmacologically active substances of relevance to human and veterinary health;
- To promote cooperation between teaching and research institutions.
Histórico
In 1996, Dr. Drauzio Varella and Dr. Riad N. Younes inaugurated the Extraction Laboratory. Since then, researchers have been collecting plant species from different families, aiming to obtain organic and aqueous extracts from ground plant material, following protocols from the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health of the United States.
With the advancement of research, other laboratories were created, such as the UNIP Herbarium and the Botany Laboratory, responsible for receiving and taxonomically identifying the collected samples, under the curatorship of the herbarium. Currently, the botany group develops studies in various ecologically relevant biomes, such as the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon, the Cerrado, and Restinga areas, focusing on forest dynamics over time.
Subsequently, the Antitumor Screening Laboratory was created, with support from FAPESP, dedicated to conducting cytotoxicity assays to identify extracts capable of inhibiting the growth of human tumor cells in vitro, also based on techniques from the National Cancer Institute.
Later, the Microbiology Laboratory was structured, focused on evaluating the activity of plant extracts against microorganisms relevant to human and veterinary health. In parallel, the Phytochemistry Laboratory was established, responsible for the fractionation and purification of the active compounds present in the extracts, a step that requires high-technology equipment for the isolation and elucidation of the molecular structure of these substances.
The prospecting work carried out for decades by NPBio researchers and their undergraduate and graduate students extends to collaborations with other teaching and research institutions. The guiding principle behind the use of the extract library is to allow each extract to undergo the greatest possible number of biological and chemical assays, thus promoting the accumulation of pharmacological and phytochemical data that, when combined, contribute to the understanding and appreciation of Brazilian biodiversity.
Lines of Research
- Screening of Brazilian plants with antitumor and antibacterial activity;
- Experimental models in immunopathology and immunotoxicology;
- Evaluation of the cytotoxic response of plant extracts;
- Evaluation of the antibacterial and antimicrobial response of plant extracts;
- Evaluation of the antioxidant response of plant extracts;
- Evaluation of the toxicity of plant extracts in in vitro and in vivo models;
- Essential oils in Amazonian plants: seasonal variation and biological activity;
- Evaluation of the influence of medicinal plants administered to pregnant rats on the behavior of pups challenged by stress in the young adult phase;
- Evaluation of the activity of plant extracts on dental biofilm;
- Prospecting for the acaricidal activity of essential oils from Amazonian plants.
Laboratories
UNIP Herbarium
In academic and scientific circles, the term herbarium refers to a collection of dried plants, properly identified, labeled, and stored under appropriate conditions. These collections are fundamental for recording the occurrence of plant species in specific locations and serve as a reference for various scientific studies, ensuring the traceability of the collections made.
The UNIP Herbarium was created on the Paulista campus in 1997, shortly after the implementation of the project "Selection, extraction and identification of new antitumor and antibacterial drugs from Brazilian plants," coordinated by Dr. Drauzio Varella since 1996. Executed mainly in the Amazon Rainforest, the project generated the need to properly store herbarium samples (vouchers) of the plants collected and used in the production of extracts in the UNIP Extraction Laboratory, serving as voucher material.
Thus arose the UNIP scientific plant collection, officially registered as the UNIP HERBARIUM with the Herbarium Commission of the Brazilian Botanical Society (SBB) in 1999, and in the Index Herbariorum in 2003, under the curatorship of biologist Dr. Mateus Luís Barradas Paciencia.
With the strengthening of basic research activities at the University, new projects in the areas of botany and ecology were incorporated, expanding the scope of the herbarium, which began to receive botanical material from various regions of the country. Currently, the collection has approximately 11,000 records, making it one of the main private herbaria in the State of São Paulo. Approximately 6,000 of these records refer to Amazonian plants (about 1,500 to 2,000 different species), consolidating the UNIP Herbarium as an important reference source for these species.
More information can be found on the New York Botanical Garden - Index Herbariorum page (http://www.nybg.org/bsci/ih/), under the acronym UNIP.
Extraction Laboratory
The idea of ​​researching Amazonian biodiversity arose in the early 1990s, following a visit by Dr. Drauzio Varella to the region. Observing the selective action of fungi on the leaves of different trees, he realized the immense unexplored scientific potential of the forest, as well as the lack of systematic research focused on identifying bioactive compounds with therapeutic applications, especially in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.
Inspired by laboratory models from the National Cancer Institute, linked to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, the UNIP Extraction Laboratory was created in the late 1990s. Its main objective is to systematically obtain the largest possible number of plant extracts from Brazilian plants for subsequent evaluation in biological and pharmacological assays.
Currently, the laboratory houses an extract library, with more than 2,300 samples from the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest, stored at -20 °C in cold chambers. Each sample undergoes an extraction process that generates two types of extracts—one organic and one aqueous—in order to encompass compounds with different polarities.
Recently, plants originating from the Antarctic Continent have become part of the UNIP Extract Library. In the most inhospitable, arid, and remote region of the planet, dozens of species of mosses and rare species of grasses grow. These plants undergo a special extraction process, since the available biomass is scarce. Therefore, the extracts obtained undergo special analytical methodologies, given their scientific value.
After extraction, the samples are diluted in appropriate solvents and evaluated in biological or chemical models. Those that show relevant activity are fractionated, and the active compounds are isolated, identified, and retested to confirm biological activity, being compared to reference substances.
Maintaining the extract library allows for the continuous availability of samples for testing in multiple in vitro models, optimizing the screening and discovery of new pharmacological tools applicable to the study of various pathologies.
Microbiology Laboratory
The Microbiology Laboratory was created with the objective of evaluating the antimicrobial activity of plant extracts against microorganisms associated with human and animal diseases. More than 2,000 extracts from the UNIP Extract Collection have already been tested against various microorganisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. The various experimental models used are validated and optimized to allow the analysis of a large number of samples per week, using minimal amounts of extract.
Laboratório de Triagem Antitumoral
This laboratory was structured with the aim of evaluating the cytotoxic activity of extracts and natural samples against human malignant tumor cell lines cultured in vitro. Its implementation was funded by FAPESP and based on protocols from the National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH), which also collaborated on technology transfer.
The current panel of tumor cells includes seven cell lines: breast, prostate, lung, colon, central nervous system, leukemia, and head and neck. More than 1,200 extracts have already been subjected to cytotoxicity tests, of which 120 showed lethality greater than 15% of the cells in culture when compared to untreated controls.
These promising extracts will subsequently be fractionated and re-evaluated in biological models, as well as subjected to analysis of their chemical classes. The inclusion of new tumor cell lines in the panel is planned, especially head and neck cancers, as well as cells of importance in veterinary oncology.
Phytochemistry Laboratory
This is the newest of the laboratories and is where the fractionation of active extracts is carried out, as well as the evaluation of the chemical classes present, such as alkaloids, terpenes, phenolic compounds, and glycosylated compounds. For this, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction techniques are used for the initial fractionation of the active extracts. Then, chromatographic techniques are used to separate more purified fractions and for the chemical prospecting of the active principles. The following chromatographic techniques are performed in the laboratory: thin-layer chromatography and column chromatography.
Contact
UNIP Research Center - Indianópolis
Rua Doutor Bacelar, 902 - Zip Code: 04026-002
Phone: (11) 5071-8439
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Ivana Suffredini
E-mail: extractlab@unip.br