Division of Pharmacognosy

Karin Ortmayr

  • Phytochemistry & Biodiscovery
  • Molecular Targets
  • MS-based metabolome profiling

  • Impact of cellular plasticity on cellular metabolism and responses to stress & bioactive compounds

    Advanced analytical tools in mass spectrometry-based metabolomics have opened cellular metabolism for systematic and functional studies in human health and disease. Using combined metabolic- and phenotypic profiling, my research addresses fundamental questions on the interplay between different cell states (cellular plasticity), cellular metabolism and the action of bioactive compounds. Particular emphasis is on (1) harnessing cell state-specific vulnerabilities to target disease-relevant cell subpopulations like quiescent cancer cells (cancer recurrence), and (2) the consideration of cell state switches to improve cell-based systems for drug discovery.

  • Technologies and approach:
    Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics (non-targeted and targeted),
    In vitro cell cultivation and multiparallel perturbation studies (96-well format),
    Live-cell microscopy imaging
    Integrative computational data analysis

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Publications

Pfleger T, Freyenschlag N, Schmolz JJ, Anzengruber M, Ortmayr K, Klang V. Evaluation of analytical buffers as alternatives to phosphate-buffered saline in diffusion studies with plant extracts using LC-MS detection. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2026 May 20;697(126897):126897. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2026.126897

Schuhknecht L, Ortmayr K, Jänes J, Bläsi M, Panoussis E, Bors S et al. A human metabolic map of pharmacological perturbations reveals drug modes of action. Nature Biotechnology. 2025 Dec;43(12):1996-2008. doi: 10.1038/s41587-024-02524-5

Pfleger T, Ortmayr K, Steiner K, Zaher R, Seiser S, Elbe-Bürger A et al. Radical scavenging effect of skin delivery systems using Korean red ginseng extract and assessment of their biocompatibility with human primary dermal fibroblasts and HaCaT keratinocytes. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2025 Apr 15;674:125477. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2025.125477

Eichenauer E, Sykora C, Ortmayr K, Glasl S. “Radix Saniculae”: Phytochemical Characterization and Potential Adulteration of an Austrian Traditional Wound-Healing Agent. Plants. 2025 Jan 18;14(2):266. doi: 10.3390/plants14020266

Vaneková Z, Redl M, Fischer L, Ortmayr K, Jaakola L, Rollinger JM. The Bog Bilberry Enigma: A Phytochemical and Ethnopharmacological Analysis of Vaccinium uliginosum L. Fruits in Regard to Their Alleged Toxicity. Plants. 2025.

Schwarzinger J, Adelsberger S, Ortmayr K, Stellnberger SL, Tahir A, Hädrich G et al. Biopharmaceutical profiling of anti-infective sanggenons from Morus alba root bark for inhalation administration. International journal of pharmaceutics: X. 2024 Dec;8:100272. Epub 2024 Aug 5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpx.2024.100272

Ortmayr K, Zampieri M. Sorting‐free metabolic profiling uncovers the vulnerability of fatty acid β‐oxidation in in vitro quiescence models. Molecular Systems Biology. 2022 Sept;18(9):e10716. doi: 10.15252/msb.202110716

Ortmayr K, Moreno RDLC, Zampieri M. Expanding the search for small-molecule antibacterials by multidimensional profiling. Nature Chemical Biology. 2022 Jun;18(6):584-595. doi: 10.1038/s41589-022-01040-4

Anglada-Girotto M, Handschin G, Ortmayr K, Campos AI, Gillet L, Manfredi P et al. Combining CRISPRi and metabolomics for functional annotation of compound libraries. Nature Chemical Biology. 2022 May;18(5):482-491. doi: 10.1038/s41589-022-00970-3

Ortmayr K, Dubuis S, Zampieri M. Metabolic profiling of cancer cells reveals genome-wide crosstalk between transcriptional regulators and metabolism. Nature Communications. 2019 Apr 23;10(1):1841. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09695-9

Ortmayr K, Dubuis S, Zampieri M. A framework for large-scale metabolome drug profiling links coenzyme A metabolism to the toxicity of anti-cancer drug dichloroacetate. Communications Biology. 2018 Aug 3;1(1):101. doi: 10.1038/s42003-018-0111-x

Ortmayr K, Charwat V, Kasper C, Hann S, Koellensperger G. Uncertainty budgeting in fold change determination and implications for non-targeted metabolomics studies in model systems. The Analyst. 2017 Jan 1;142(1):80-90. doi: 10.1039/c6an01342b

Ortmayr K, Causon TJ, Hann S, Koellensperger G. Increasing selectivity and coverage in LC-MS based metabolome analysis. Trends in Analytical Chemistry. 2016 Sept;82:358-366. doi: 10.1016/j.trac.2016.06.011

Ortmayr K, Schwaiger M, Drexler H, Mairinger T, Causon T, Hann S et al. Metabolomics trifft Methodenvalidierung - Analytische Herausforderungen in der modernen ungezielten Metabolomanalyse mittels LC-MS. In Book of Abstracts. 2016

Megson ZA, Pittenauer E, Duda KA, Engel R, Ortmayr K, Koellensperger G et al. Inositol-phosphodihydroceramides in the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia: Structural analysis and incorporation of exogenous myo-inositol. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 2015 Nov;1851(11):1417-1427. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2015.08.004

Hermann G, Rampler E, Ortmayr K, Schwaiger M, Neubauer S, Chu DB et al. The assisting role of elemental speciation analysis in metabolomics and proteomics. In Book of Abstracts. 2015

Ortmayr K, Schwaiger M, Drexler H, Mairinger T, Hermann G, Causon T et al. Towards validating LC-MS based metabolomics – overcoming analytical challenges with chromatographic enhancements and normalization strategies. In Book of Abstracts. 2015

Ortmayr K, Hann S, Köllensperger G. Towards validating LC-MS based metabolomics – chromatographic enhancements and normalization strategies. In Rainer M, editor, Book of Abstracts. 2015

Mairinger T, Drexler H, Chu DB, Neubauer S, Troyer C, Ortmayr K et al. Measurement uncertainty of isotopologue fractions determined via mass spectrometry for metabolic flux analysis. In Samuel L, editor, Book of Abstracts. 2015

Ortmayr K, Hann S, Köllensperger G. Complementing reversed phase selectivity with porous graphitized carbon to increase the metabolome coverage in an on-line two-dimensional LC-MS setup for metabolomics. In Gössler W, Leitner E, Wiltsche H, editors, Book of Abstracts. 2015

Hermann G, Neubauer S, Chu DB, Ortmayr K, Hann S, Köllensperger G. Elemental speciation analysis - current developments and future perspectives. In Gössler W, Leitner E, Wiltsche H, editors, Book of Abstracts. 2015

Mairinger T, Drexler H, Chu DB, Neubauer S, Troyer C, Ortmayr K et al.. Neue massenspektrometrische Analysenstrategien für Fluxomics und Metabolomics in der industriellen Biotechnologie. 2015. Paper presented at 32. Forum Analytik Wien, Wien, Austria.

Köllensperger G, Hermann G, Ortmayr K, Hann S. Sulfur speciation analysis in biotechnology. In Karst U, Sperling M, Vogel M, editors, Book of Abstracts. 2015

Ortmayr K, Schwaiger M, Hann S, Koellensperger G. An integrated metabolomics workflow for the quantification of sulfur pathway intermediates employing thiol protection with N-ethyl maleimide and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The Analyst. 2015;140(22):7687-7695. doi: 10.1039/c5an01629k

Ortmayr K, Hann S, Koellensperger G. Complementing reversed-phase selectivity with porous graphitized carbon to increase the metabolome coverage in an on-line two-dimensional LC-MS setup for metabolomics. The Analyst. 2015;140(10):3465-3473. doi: 10.1039/c5an00206k

Hann S, Mairinger T, Binh CD, Neubauer S, Ortmayr K, Köllensperger G. GC-qTOFMS for determination of accurate isotopologue ratios and tandem mass isotopomer ratios for metabolic flux analysis of the central carbon metabolism. In Zenobi R, editor, Book of Abstracts . 2014

Ortmayr K, Mairinger T, Neubauer S, Hann S, Köllensperger G. The potential of two-dimensional chromatography in non-targeted metabolome analysis. In Zenobi R, editor, Book of Abstracts . 2014

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