The secrets of life lie in the molecular flexibility.

Welcome to Prof. Mariusz Jaremko's research group, the

Flexible Systems Lab!

Our research group works mainly on metabolites which are important for human health, and our current main focus in this discipline is oriented towards food, food safety, food quality, and food fraud by utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation in metabolomics studies. We are also working on aggregation of amylin, a biological peptide that is connected tightly with diabetes II, a disease that is closely related to unhealthy diets. So, food science and the consequences of the food we eat are one of the main areas which the group Flexible Systems investigates. We are also working to develop methods and pulse programs in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) that allow us to uncover obscured metabolites and to detect them at lower concentrations, in order to understand metabolic pathways better. 


Why the name Flexible Systems?

It's simple; because metabolites, as well as amylin and its analogues, are very flexible systems i.e. amylin does not have a defined 3D structure, and in the case of the small molecules and metabolites we study, while they do have defined structures, they often exhibit very high levels of dynamic flexibility due to their size.

Untangling untidy folds to understand diseases

Copper ions could play a key role when peptide folding goes wrong and leads to harmful aggregates.

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Picking the best methods for metabolomics research

Comparison of different nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods has helped to identify the most robust approach for studying different types of biomolecules.

Latest Publications

Important Flavonoids and Their Role as a Therapeutic Agent

by Asad Ullah, Sidra Munir, Syed Lal Badshah, Noreen Khan, Lubna Ghani, Benjamin Gabriel Poulson, Abdul-Hamid Emwas, Mariusz Jaremko
Review Article Year: 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25225243

Abstract

Flavonoids are phytochemical compounds present in many plants, fruits, vegetables, and leaves, with potential applications in medicinal chemistry. Flavonoids possess a number of medicinal benefits, including anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties. They also have neuroprotective and cardio-protective effects. These biological activities depend upon the type of flavonoid, its (possible) mode of action, and its bioavailability. These cost-effective medicinal components have significant biological activities, and their effectiveness has been proved for a variety of diseases. The most recent work is focused on their isolation, synthesis of their analogs, and their effects on human health using a variety of techniques and animal models. Thousands of flavonoids have been successfully isolated, and this number increases steadily. We have therefore made an effort to summarize the isolated flavonoids with useful activities in order to gain a better understanding of their effects on human health.

Keywords

Natural products