Natural impact

Aspirin, morphine, and penicillin are just some of the best-known examples of the many drugs that are based on natural products with therapeutical properties – and extracts from plants, fungi, and microorganisms will continue to play an important role in pharmacy and medicine in the future. Which natural products are bioactive and what structures in the body do they target? Professor Robert Fürst explores these questions in his research. Since the end of 2023, the pharmacist has been holding the Chair of Pharmaceutical Biology at LMU.

For Fürst, the appointment means a return to the place where his scientific career began with a degree in pharmacy. In 2001, he received his license to practice (“approbation”) as a pharmacist. “Pharmacy fascinated me because of its interdisciplinary nature,” says Fürst, describing how the subject ranges from molecular biology to facilities for mass-producing tablets and suppositories. He got to know the chair he now holds while working as an intern under his predecessor Professor Angelika Vollmar – and remained there from his doctorate to his habilitation degree. In 2012, he became Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at Goethe University Frankfurt, where he headed a research group until moving to LMU. “Coming to such a large, prestigious chair, where I myself started my career, is like winning the lottery,” says Fürst.

Anti-inflammatory compounds from nature

Natural products from plants were the first pharmaceutical substances that humans had at their disposal. “Even today, our store of pharmaceuticals largely comes from our investigations of natural products,” emphasizes Fürst. Only a quarter of drugs that have come on the market over the past three to four decades were devised purely on the “drawing board of chemists.” Everything else was “inspired by nature.” As such, climate change and the biodiversity crisis could have major consequences from a pharmaceutical perspective, as the disappearance of species is robbing of us potential medicinal treasures.

Fürst’s research is focused on identifying new natural substances with anti-inflammatory properties and discovering how they work at the cellular and molecular levels. He sources his samples primarily from cooperation partners from the spheres of biotechnology and chemistry and subjects them to so-called high-content screening. By this method, he investigates the effects of his substances on endothelial cells and leukocytes – cell types that play a key role in inflammatory processes. “In every inflammatory response, the white blood cells (leukocytes) have to get into tissue from the blood through the endothelial cell layer,” explains Fürst. “This interaction is the key to our research.”

New insights into cellular processes

At the moment, he is primarily analyzing plant compounds and substances obtained from myxobacteria. “In nature, these bacteria spread in predatory swarms and form many interesting chemical structures,” says Fürst. A basic goal of these investigations is that they result, wherever possible, in a translational approach that promotes the transfer of the findings into practice. “But that’s not our job – we just do the cell biology.” The pharmacist stresses that his work is very much tilted toward basic research. Often, it is not the goal to use a natural substance directly as a pharmaceutical agent. This is partly because these molecules can have properties that make them unsuitable for direct use. Frequently, the substances are employed more as tool compounds, which offer new insights into cellular processes and possible therapeutic approaches.

An example of this is annomontine, an alkaloid extracted from a species of tropical tree. Fürst investigated various derivates of this substance. “The derivates certainly do not have any good pharmaceutical properties,” says Fürst. “But our investigations revealed that certain enzymes that are addressed by annomontine play a role in angiogenic processes, which themselves play a role in inflammation.”

Excellent career prospects for students

In addition to research, Fürst loves teaching. Pharmacy is offered as a State Examination degree program at LMU as well as in the form of bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “Bachelor’s degree programs in pharmaceutical sciences are a genuine rarity, so we’re offering something special there,” says Fürst. A particular challenge of teaching, in his view, is imparting the foundations of pharmaceutical biology while also incorporating the latest developments in pharmaceutical research into the courses. “There are around 30 to 40 new drugs every year. Staying up to date, not forgetting the foundations, and making sure that students are not overwhelmed by all the material is anything but trivial.” Independently of their final results, students have excellent career prospects, emphasizes Fürst. Pharmaceutical jobs are undersubscribed, and particularly now, as baby boomers go into retirement, many pharmacies are crying out for staff. “The job market soaks up graduates like a sponge.”