Ivana Pibiri

Toward a rationale for the PTC124 (Ataluren) promoted readthrough of premature stop codons: a computational approach and GFP-reporter cell-based assay.

The presence in the mRNA of premature stop codons (PTCs) results in protein truncation responsible for several inherited (genetic) diseases. A well-known example of these diseases is cystic fibrosis (CF), where approximately 10% (worldwide) of patients have nonsense mutations in the CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene. PTC124 (3-(5-(2-fluorophenyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-benzoic acid), also known as Ataluren, is a small molecule that has been suggested to allow PTC readthrough even though its target has yet to be identified. In the lack of a general consensus about its mechanism of action, we experimentally tested the ability of PTC124 to promote the readthrough of premature termination codons by using a new reporter. The reporter vector was based on a plasmid harboring the H2B histone coding sequence fused in frame with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA, and a TGA stop codon was introduced in the H2B-GFP gene by site-directed mutagenesis. Additionally, an unprecedented computational study on the putative supramolecular interaction between PTC124 and an 11-codon (33-nucleotides) sequence corresponding to a CFTR mRNA fragment containing a central UGA nonsense mutation showed a specific interaction between PTC124 and the UGA codon. Altogether, the H2B-GFP-opal based assay and the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation support the hypothesis that PTC124 is able to promote the specific readthrough of internal TGA premature stop codons.

Study on the thermotropic properties of highly fluorinated 1,2,4-oxadiazolylpyridinium salts and their perspective applications as ionic liquid crystals

A new series of fluorinated salts, iodides and trifluoromethanesulfonates, was synthesized from perfluoroalkylated 1,2,4-oxadiazolylpyridines. Their thermotropic properties were investigated by combined temperature resolved small angle and wide angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry and polarised optical microscopy. The UV–visible and photoluminescence properties were studied for all compounds. The results showed for two compounds the existence of an enantiotropic mesomorphic smectic liquid crystal phase. All iodides showed thermochromism phenomena suggesting prospective applications in optoelectronics.

Perfluorocarbon functionalized hyaluronic acid derivatives as oxygenating systems for cell culture

A set of new hyaluronic acid (HA) derivatives was obtained by binding fluorinated oxadiazole (OXA) moieties to an amino derivative of the polysaccharide (HA-EDA). The obtained HA-EDA-OXA biomaterials are potentially able to improve oxygenation into a scaffold for tissue engineering purposes. The oxygen solubility in aqueous dispersions of the obtained derivatives showed that polymers were able to improve oxygen uptake and maintenance in the medium. The HA-EDA-OXA was employed to form a hydrogel in situ by reaction with a vinyl sulphone derivative of inulin, under physiological conditions. The influence of the presence of OXA moieties on the mechanical properties of the obtained hydrogels as well as on the metabolic activity of incorporated primary fibroblasts was investigated. The produced HA-EDA-OXA biomaterials were able to promote cell growth under hypoxic conditions.

Semisynthetic derivatives of ent-kauranes and their antifeedant activity

Chemical modification of functional groups on linearol yielded several ent-kaurane derivatives. These compounds were tested for their antifeedant activity against larvae of Spodoptera littoralis. Although linearol did not influence the feeding behaviour of larvae, some of its derivatives showed significant antifeedant activity.

Photocatalysis in dimethyl carbonate green solvent: degradation and partial oxidation of phenanthrene on supported TiO2

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is here proposed – for the first time – as a green organic solvent for photocatalytic synthesis. In this work, the photocatalytic partial oxidation of phenanthrene in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) by using anatase TiO2 as the photocatalyst is described as paradigmatic example of a green synthetic process starting from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). For comparison, the same reaction carried out also in ethanol, 1-propanol or 2-propanol is reported. The use of DMC as the solvent allowed us to achieve 19% and 23% selectivity towards 9-fluorenone and 6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-one, respectively. The proposed approach may represent both a new green synthetic process and an environmentally friendly route to degradation of PAHs.

Synthesis of a fluorinated graphene oxide–silica nanohybrid: improving oxygen affinity

An easy method to achieve a fluorinated graphene oxide–silica nanohybrid (GOSF) is presented. Graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by Hummers modified method, the GO–silica nanohybrid (GOS) was obtained via Fischer esterification, the fluorinated moiety (3-pentadecafluoroheptyl-5-perfluorophenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole) was introduced by nucleophilic substitution operated by the hydroxyl functionalities onto the GOS surface. Full characterization of the new materials confirmed the formation of covalent bonds between the graphene oxide/silica hybrid matrix and the fluorinated moieties. The proposed methodology offers an easy way to get fluorinated carbon/silica hybrid nanomaterials avoiding the harsh reaction conditions usually involved in the preparation of fluorinated materials, and allowing the selective immobilization of specific fluorotails. Moreover, performed oxygen uptake and release kinetics showed that the introduction of fluorinated moieties increases the oxygen exchange, making the material interesting for prospective applications in the biomedical field, as oxygen delivery system, as filler for biocompatible materials, and in the preparation of membranes for the purification of water.

Enhancement of premature stop codon readthrough in the CFTR gene by Ataluren (PTC124) derivatives

Premature stop codons are the result of nonsense mutations occurring within the coding sequence of a gene. These mutations lead to the synthesis of a truncated protein and are responsible for several genetic diseases. A potential pharmacological approach to treat these diseases is to promote the translational readthrough of premature stop codons by small molecules aiming to restore the full-length protein. The compound PTC124 (Ataluren) was reported to promote the readthrough of the premature UGA stop codon, although its activity was questioned. The potential interaction of PTC124 with mutated mRNA was recently suggested by molecular dynamics (MD) studies highlighting the importance of H-bonding and stacking π-π interactions. To improve the readthrough activity we changed the fluorine number and position in the PTC124 fluoroaryl moiety. The readthrough ability of these PTC124 derivatives was tested in human cells harboring reporter plasmids with premature stop codons in H2BGFP and FLuc genes as well as in cystic fibrosis (CF) IB3.1 cells with a nonsense mutation. Maintaining low toxicity, three of these molecules showed higher efficacy than PTC124 in the readthrough of the UGA premature stop codon and in recovering the expression of the CFTR protein in IB3.1 cells from cystic fibrosis patient. Molecular dynamics simulations performed with mutated CFTR mRNA fragments and active or inactive derivatives are in agreement with the suggested interaction of PTC124 with mRNA.

Heterocyclic Scaffolds for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND The treatment and diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease (AD) are two of the most urgent goals for research around the world. The cognitive decline is generally associated with the elevated levels of extracellular senile plaques, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and with a progressive shutdown of the cholinergic basal forebrain neurons transmission. Even if several key targets are under fervent investigation in the cure of AD, till now, the only approved therapeutic strategy is the treatment of symptoms by using cholinesterases inhibitors. It has been demonstrated that both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) enzymes are not only responsible of acetylcholine levels, but also play an pivotal role in Aβ-aggregation during the early stages of senile plaque formation. On the other hand the difficult management of AD is also related to effective diagnostic methods and efficient assays for the study of pathological features. In such complex a wide framework, heterocyclic molecules are essential backbone to build new and selective drugs as well as diagnostic probes. METHODS The goal of this review is to examine a selected sample of relevant applications of five- and six-membered heterocycles in ADs therapeutic approaches. RESULTS Concerning the research on AD, the contribution of heterocyclic compounds is huge and here we report some representative examples. The review is organized in two main sections focused on five and six-membered heterocycles. The analyzed cases have been classified on the base of the structural features of molecules, taking into account the progressive increase in heteroatoms number. CONCLUSION The discovery of an effective therapy or a diagnostic protocol for AD is still far, but consistent improvements are underway and contribution of heterocyclic compounds will be consistent and hopefully determinant.

Synthesis of platinum complexes with 2-(5-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3yl)-pyridine and 2-(3-perfluoroalkyl-1-methyl-1,2,4-triazole-5yl)-pyridine ligands and their in vitro antitumor activity.

Five new mononuclear Pt(II) complexes with 5-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazolyl-pyridine and 3-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-triazolyl-pyridine ligands are reported. The ligands 2-(5-perfluoroheptyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole-3yl)-pyridine (pfhop), 2-(5-perfluoropropyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole-3yl)-pyridine (pfpop), 2-(3-perfluoroheptyl-1-methyl-1,2,4-triazole-5yl)-pyridine (pfhtp), 2-(3-perfluoropropyl-1-methyl-1,2,4-triazole-5yl)-pyridine (pfptp) and their complexes [PtCl2(pfhop)2]·1.5 DMSO (2a), [PtCl2(pfpop)2]·1.5 DMSO (3a), [PtCl2(pfhtp)2]·1.5 DMSO (4a), PtCl2(pfhtp) (4b), [PtCl2(pfptp)2]·1.5 DMSO (5a) have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The complexes 2a, 3a, 4a and 5a have the same chemical environment of Pt(II) where PtCl2 moieties coordinate two molecules of ligand via N1 atom of pyridine in the case of pfhop and pfpop, and N2 atom of 1,2,4-triazole in the case of pfhtp and pfptp. For 4b, pfhtp behaves as bidentate ligand, coordinating Pt(II) ion via N4 atom of triazole and N1 atom of pyridine. All complexes have been tested in vitro by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)bromide-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium (MTT) test on four tumor cell lines MCF-7 (human breast cancer), HepG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), HCT116 (human colorectal carcinoma). Compounds 2a and 4b showed a dose-dependent anti-proliferative effect against the three tumor cell lines whereas did not affect viability of intestinal normal-like differentiated Caco-2 cells. The cell death of HepG2, MCF-7 and HCT116 induced by the compounds, was considered to be apoptotic by measuring the exposure of phosphatidylserine to the outer membrane and observing the typical apoptotic morphological change by acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) staining.

Fluorinated Heterocyclic Compounds. Synthesis of 5-Amino-, 5-N-Alkylamino-, and 5-N,N-Dialkylamino-3-perfluoroheptyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles

The synthesis of 5-amino-, 5-N-alkylamino-, and 5-N,N-dialkylamino-3-perfluoroheptyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles has been realized with very good yields by ammonolysis or aminolysis of the 3-perfluoroheptyl-5-trichloromethyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole with ammonia, primary or secondary aliphatic amine. Some comments on the absorption spectra of fluorinated aminooxadiazoles are reported.