Ana C. Mafud

Structural characterization of emeraldine-salt polyaniline/gold nanoparticles complexes

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) stabilized with polyamidoamine dendrimers (Au-PAMAM) or sodium citrate (Au-CITRATE) were synthesized and complexed with polyaniline emeraldine-salt form (ES-PANI). The complexes were characterized using structural and morphological techniques, including X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Zeta Potential analyses, and Fourier-Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). When the Au-CITRATE NPs are added to the polymeric solution, the formation of a precipitate is clearly observed. The precipitate exhibited a different morphology from that found for ES-PANI and Au-CITRATE NPs, suggesting the formation of ES-PANI coating over the surface of Au-CITRATE NPs. On the other hand, when the Au-PAMAM NPs are incorporated into the ES-PANI solution, none interaction was observed, probably due to the repulsive electrostatic interactions, being the organization of the ES-PANI chains unaffected by the presence of the Au-PAMAM NPs.

Anthelmintic Activity In Vivo of Epiisopiloturine against Juvenile and Adult Worms of Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a serious disease currently estimated to affect more that 207 million people worldwide. Due to the intensive use of praziquantel, there is increasing concern about the development of drug-resistant strains. Therefore, it is necessary to search for and investigate new potential schistosomicidal compounds. This work reports the in vivo effect of the alkaloid epiisopiloturine (EPI) against adults and juvenile worms of Schistosoma mansoni. EPI was first purified its thermal behavior and theoretical solubility parameters charaterised. In the experiment, mice were treated with EPI over the 21 days post-infection with the doses of 40 and 200 mg/kg, and 45 days post-infection with single doses of 40, 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with EPI at 40 mg/kg was more effective in adult worms when compared with doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with 40 mg/kg in adult worms reduced parasite burden significantly, lead to reduction in hepatosplenomegaly, reduced the egg burden in faeces, and decreased granuloma diameter. Scanning electron microscopy revealed morphological changes to the parasite tegument after treatment, including the loss of important features. Additionally, the in vivo treatment against juvenile with 40 mg/kg showed a reduction of the total worm burden of 50.2%. Histopathological studies were performed on liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain and EPI was shown to have a DL50 of 8000 mg/kg. Therefore EPI shows potential to be used in schistosomiasis treatment. This is the first time that schistosomicidal in vivo activity of EPI has been reported.

Structural parameters, molecular properties, and biological evaluation of some terpenes targeting Schistosoma mansoni parasite

The use of natural products has a long tradition in medicine, and they have proven to be an important source of lead compounds in the development of new drugs. Among the natural compounds, terpenoids present broad-spectrum activity against infective agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoan and helminth parasites. In this study, we report a biological screening of 38 chemically characterized terpenes from different classes, which have a hydroxyl group connected by hydrophobic chain or an acceptor site, against the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, the parasite responsible for schistosomiasis mansoni. In vitro bioassays revealed that 3,7-dimethyl-1-octanol (dihydrocitronellol) (10) was the most active terpene (IC50 values of 13-52 μM) and, thus, we investigated its antischistosomal activity in greater detail. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that compound 10 induced severe tegumental damage in adult schistosomes and a correlation between viability and tegumental changes was observed. Furthermore, we compared all the inactive compounds with dihydrocitronellol structurally by using shape and charge modeling. Lipophilicity (miLogP) and other molecular properties (e.g. molecular polar surface area, molecular electrostatic potential) were also calculated. From the 38 terpenes studied, compound 10 is the one with the greatest flexibility, with a sufficient apolar region by which it may interact in a hydrophobic active site. In conclusion, the integration of biological and chemical analysis indicates the potential of the terpene dihydrocitronellol as an antiparasitic agent.

Discovery of Novel Antischistosomal Agents by Molecular Modeling Approaches

Schistosomiasis, a chronic neglected tropical disease caused by Schistosoma worms, is reported in nearly 80 countries. Although the disease affects approximately 260 million people, the treatment relies exclusively on praziquantel, a drug discovered in the mid-1970s that lacks efficacy against the larval stages of the parasite. In addition, the dependence on a single treatment has raised concerns about drug resistance, and reduced susceptibility has already been found in laboratory and field isolates. Therefore, novel therapies for schistosomiasis are needed, and several approaches have been used to that end. One of these strategies, molecular modeling, has been increasingly integrated with experimental techniques, resulting in the discovery of novel antischistosomal agents.

Synergistic effects of in vitro combinations of piplartine, epiisopiloturine and praziquantel against Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a world health problem, and praziquantel is the only drug currently used for the treatment. There is some evidence that extensive monotherapy of praziquantel may be leading to drug resistance in the parasite. In order to find alternative treatments, the effects of the combination of epiisopiloturine (EPI), piplartine (PPT) and praziquantel (PZQ) were evaluated. Similarity analysis of these compounds was performed using optimized molecular structures to compare the shape and the charge modeling of combinations between PZQ and EPI or PPT. Supported by this data, in vitro association of PZQ-PPT, PZQ-EPI, and EPI-PPT was carried out, and the activity of these combinations against Schistosoma mansoni was assessed. The results showed synergistic activity with a combination index (CI) of 0.42 for the treatment with PZQ-PPT. Both PZQ-EPI and EPI-PPT combinations also showed synergistic effects, with CI values of 0.86 and 0.61, respectively. Surface alterations in the tegument of adult schistosomes after the treatments were observed using laser confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the association of EPI-PPT decreased the cytotoxicity when compared with both isolated compounds in three different lines of mammalian cells. Thus, synergistic combinations of PZQ-PPT, PZQ-EPI, and EPI-PPT create the possibility of reduced doses to be used against Schistosoma mansoni.

Layer-by-layer films containing peptides of the Cry1Ab16 toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis for potential biotechnological applications

Cry1Ab16 is a toxin of crystalline insecticidal proteins that has been widely used in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to gain resistance to pests. For the first time, in this study, peptides derived from the immunogenic Cry1Ab16 toxin (from Bacillus thuringiensis) were immobilized as layer-by-layer (LbL) films. Given the concern about food and environmental safety, a peptide with immunogenic potential, PcL342-354C, was selected for characterization of the electrochemical, optical, and morphological properties. The results obtained by cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that the peptide have an irreversible oxidation process in electrolyte of 0.1 mol · L(-1) potassium phosphate buffer (PBS) at pH7.2. It was also observed that the electrochemical response of the peptide is governed mainly by charge transfer. In an attempt to maximize the electrochemical signal of peptide, it was intercalated with natural (agar, alginate and chitosan) or synthetic polymers (polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate (PSS)). The presence of synthetic polymers on the film increased the electrochemical signal of PcL342-354C up to 100 times. Images by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed that the immobilized PcL342-354C formed self-assembled nanofibers with diameters ranging from 100 to 200 nm on the polymeric film. By UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) it was observed that the ITO/PEI/PSS/PcL342-354C film grows linearly up to the fifth layer, thereafter tending to saturation. X-ray diffraction confirmed the presence on the films of crystalline ITO and amorphous polypeptide phases. In general, the ITO/PEI/PSS/PcL342-354C film characterization proved that this system is an excellent candidate for applications in electrochemical sensors and other biotechnological applications for GMOs and environmental indicators.

A theoretical and experimental study to unequivocal structural assignment of tetrahydroquinoline derivatives

The tetrahydroquinoline derivatives can be easily synthesized through Povarov reaction and have several important biological activities. This work describes a comparative study for the unequivocal assignment of molecular structure of different tetrahydroquinoline derivatives, through a complete analysis of NMR 1D and 2D NMR spectra (1H, 13C, COSY, HSQC, and HMBC), and the correlation this data with theoretical calculations of energy-minimization and chemical shift (δ), employing the theory level of DFT/B3LYP with set of the cc-pVDZ basis. For these derivatives the experimental analyses and the theoretical model adopted were sufficient to obtain a good description of its structures, and these results can be used to assign the structure of various others tetrahydroquinoline derivatives.

Morpholin-4-ium morpholine-4-carbo-dithio-ate.

The title compound, C4H10NO+·C5H8NOS2 −, is built up of a morpholinium cation and a dithiocarbamate anion. In the crystal, two structurally independent formula units are linked via N—H⋯S hydrogen bonds, forming an inversion dimer, with graph-set motif R 4 4(12).

Anthelmintic, Antibacterial and Cytotoxicity Activity of Imidazole Alkaloids from Pilocarpus microphyllus Leaves

Pilocarpus microphyllus Stapf ex Wardlew (Rutaceae), popularly known as jaborandi, is a plant native to the northern and northeastern macroregions of Brazil. Several alkaloids from this species have been isolated. There are few reports of antibacterial and anthelmintic activities for these compounds. In this work, we report the antibacterial and anthelmintic activity of five alkaloids found in P. microphyllus leaves, namely, pilosine, epiisopilosine, isopilosine, epiisopiloturine and macaubine. Of these, only anthelmintic activity of one of the compounds has been previously reported. Nuclear magnetic resonance, HPLC and mass spectrometry were combined and used to identify and confirm the structure of the five compounds. As regards the anthelmintic activity, the alkaloids were studied using in vitro assays to evaluate survival time and damaged teguments for Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. We found epiisopilosine to have anthelmintic activity at very low concentrations (3.125 μg mL−1); at this concentration, it prevented mating, oviposition, reducing motor activity and altered the tegument of these worms. In contrast, none of the alkaloids showed antibacterial activity. Additionally, alkaloids displayed no cytotoxic effect on vero cells. The potent anthelmintic activity of epiisopilosine indicates the potential of this natural compound as an antiparasitic agent. Copyright

Structure and function of a novel antioxidant peptide from the skin of tropical frogs

ABSTRACT The amphibian skin plays an important role protecting the organism from external harmful factors such as microorganisms or UV radiation. Based on biorational strategies, many studies have investigated the cutaneous secretion of anurans as a source of bioactive molecules. By a peptidomic approach, a novel antioxidant peptide (AOP) with in vitro free radical scavenging ability was isolated from Physalaemus nattereri. The AOP, named antioxidin‐I, has a molecular weight [M+H]+ = 1543.69 Da and a TWYFITPYIPDK primary amino acid sequence. The gene encoding the antioxidin‐I precursor was expressed in the skin tissue of three other Tropical frog species: Phyllomedusa tarsius, P. distincta and Pithecopus rohdei. cDNA sequencing revealed highly homologous regions (signal peptide and acidic region). Mature antioxidin‐I has a novel primary sequence with low similarity compared with previously described amphibians AOPs. Antioxidin‐I adopts a random structure even at high concentrations of hydrophobic solvent, it has poor antimicrobial activity and poor performance in free radical scavenging assays in vitro, with the exception of the ORAC assay. However, antioxidin‐I presented a low cytotoxicity and suppressed menadione‐induced redox imbalance when tested with fibroblast in culture. In addition, it had the capacity to substantially attenuate the hypoxia‐induced production of reactive oxygen species when tested in hypoxia exposed living microglial cells, suggesting a potential neuroprotective role for this peptide. Graphical abstract Figure. No caption available. HighlightsAntioxidin‐I is a new antioxidant peptide isolated from the skin tropical frogs.The bioactive peptide presented very low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells.It was able to avoid redox imbalance in oxidative challenged cells.Antioxidin‐I had the capacity to suppress ROS levels in hypoxia‐exposed microglia.Results support the application of the peptide for neuroprotection.