Research
Agrostemma githago L.
Triterpene Saponins from Caryophyllaceae as Transfection Enhancers
Triterpene saponins are soap-like compounds (Greek sapon) consisting of a triterpene backbone and one or more sugar chains. Triterpene saponins from plants of the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae) have traditionally been used for the treatment of productive cough but have increasingly lost importance. In recent years, however, they have experienced a renaissance as enhancers of biological activity. After it was observed that ribosome-inactivating proteins exhibit markedly increased toxicity in combination with specific triterpene saponins from Caryophyllaceae such as Agrostemma githago L., this effect was attributed to an influence of the saponins on intracellular transport processes.
We exploit this activity as so-called “endosomal escape enhancers” to use specific triterpene saponins to enhance the activity of novel macromolecular therapeutics, such as nucleic acid-based therapeutics, thereby enabling dose reduction. Our research focuses on both the isolation and characterization of novel endosomal escape enhancers and the semisynthetic modification of already known compounds with this activity.