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Biofunctionality of Secondary Plant Compounds

Photo: Celina Willmann

Head of group: Prof. Dr. Wim Wätjen
Office: Katrin Sühring

Our group is primarily working with secondary plant compounds and whether or how these are capable of modulating processes involved in ageing. Our research mainly focuses on flavonoids which play an important role in human nutrition, but also natural compounds which are components of certain traditionally used medicinal plants.

To examine these natural compounds and to elucidate molecular mechanisms of their modes of action we are using the nematode and model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. At the centre of attention are the modulation of redox-active signalling pathways, the impact on oxidative stress, Aβ-toxicity, and the analysis of ageing parameters (lipofuscin accumulation, life span) in the animals.

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