Faculty Profile
Jordan Zjawiony
Professor of Pharmacognosy
Phone Number: (662)915-7290
Email: jordan@olemiss.edu
http://www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/pharmacognosy/zjawiony.html
Key Words: natural product chemistry with emphasis on compounds isolated from psychoactive plants and fungi and their interactions with CNS receptors.
Research Description: Dr. Zjawiony�s main research interest is focused on natural products chemistry of biologically active constituents of psychoactive plants and fungi. The strong emphasis in current research is placed on discovery and development of new kappa-opioid ligands from hallucinogenic plants. Dr. Zjawiony�s research group is developing new derivatives and analogs of salvinorin A, the major active component of hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum. Salvinorin A is the first known non-alkaloidal kappa-opioid receptor agonist with potency equal to the synthetic hallucinogen, LSD. Chemical modifications of the structure of salvinorin A may provide new ligands to kappa-opioid receptor, especially new antagonists that may serve as models for the development of new drugs for CNS disorders.
Another project in progress is oriented toward the synthesis of aplysinopsin analogs as new agents interacting with serotonin receptors. This work originated from a natural product aplysinopsin isolated from marine sponges. Synthesis of new analogs of this natural product produces compounds with selective affinity to to 5HT2A and 5HT2C subtypes of serotonin receptors responsible for controlling depression and obesity, respectively.
Dr. Zjawiony is involved in several collaborative projects such as synthesis and identification of new affinity ligands to kappa-opioid receptors (with Dr Bryan Roth, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), pharmacology of natural products from psychoactive plants and fungi (with Dr. Raffaele Capasso, University of Naples, Italy and Dr. Jakub Fichna from Medical University of Lodz, Poland), and identification of bioactive secondary metabolites from mushrooms with Dr. Slawomir Bakier and Dr. Marek Wolkowycki from Bialystok University of Technology in Poland. Dr. Zjawiony is also collaborating with natural products research groups from Nigeria and Brazil to study their endemic medicinal plants.
Honors Theses:
Rayford, Vernon Alvarez (2003) "Sampagines as Potential Antifungal Medicines to Fight Opportunistic Infection in People with Suppressed Immune Systems"
Available Research Projects:
“Natural product-based opioid ligands acting selectively on CNS and periphery"
Project Description: Chemical transformations of the strongest natural hallucinogen, salvinorin A made possible to change pharmacological profile of modified salvinorins from highly selective KOR ligands to ones with dual affinity to KOR and MOR. By this way we designed and obtained new analogs with analgesic activity and without adverse CNS effect that could be useful for therapy of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gastrointestinal disorders. This project is a logical extension of our expertise and experience and directly addresses the unmet needs in this area of research and therapy of CNS and GI disorders.
Desired Student Qualifications: Basic experience and interest in organic chemistry
Project Timeline: 2015-2017
Duties of Student Researcher: Laboratory work on isolation of salvinorin A from the plant Salvia divinorum and semisynthetic modification of its structure.
Last Updated on 2015-09-30 11:22:49