54 documents found, page 1 of 6
Tripeptides featuring dehydrophenylalanine and homophenylalanine: homo- versus ...
Carvalho, André F.; Pereira, Teresa; Oliveira, Carlos; Figueiredo, Pedro; Carvalho, Alexandra; Pereira, David M.; Hilliou, L.; Bañobre-López, ManuelOver the years, our research group developed dehydrodipeptides N-capped with aromatic moieties as protease-resistant efficacious hydrogelators, affording self-assembled hydrogels at low (critical) concentrations. Dehydrotripeptides, with different dipeptide sequences and (D,L) stereochemistry, open a wider chemical space for the development of self-assembled soft nanomaterials. In this work, a small library of ...
Development of eugenol derivatives with 5-LOX inhibitory activity
Filho, José L. Pereira; Pereira, Renato B.; Vieira, Tatiana F.; Sousa, Sérgio F.; Coelho, José Ricardo Alves; Pinto, Nuno F. S.; Coelho, Catarina M. M.Eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol), is the major chemical constituent in the essential oil of numerous plant species. Several biological properties have been described for this molecule, including modulation of enzymatic targets relevant for the inflammatory response, such as 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). As so, there is interest in expanding the chemical space of this molecule to develop new molecules to be used in i...
New supramolecular hydrogels based on diastereomeric dehydrotripeptide mixtures...
Oliveira, Carlos B. P.; Carvalho, André; Pereira, Renato B.; Pereira, David M.; Hilliou, L.; Jervis, Peter J.; Martins, J. A. R.; Ferreira, Paula M. T.Self-assembly of peptide building blocks offers unique opportunities for bottom-up preparation of exquisite nanostructures, nanoarchitectures, and nanostructured bulk materials, namely hydrogels. In this work we describe the synthesis, characterization, gelation, and rheological properties of new dehydrotripeptides, Cbz-L-Lys(Cbz)-L,D-Asp-∆Phe-OH and (2-Naph)-L-Lys(2-Naph)-L,D-Asp-∆Phe-OH, containing a N-termin...
Benzo[a]phenoxazines as potential anti-inflammatory drugs
Pinto, Joana; Gonçalves, M. Sameiro T.; Pereira, David M.The chemical diversity of natural products provides a promising source of anti-inflammatory drugs, notably targeting COX-2, whose activity is associated with inflammatory processes and carcinogenesis. The COX-2 and LOX inhibitory capacity of several benzo[a]phenoxazines, N- and O-heterocyclic compounds, was studied. The kinetic assay results revealed that these molecules significantly inhibit COX-2 activity, hi...
Fisetin derivatives exhibit enhanced anti-inflammatory activity and modulation ...
Silva, Daniela Correia da; Jervis, Peter John; Martins, J. A. R.; Valentão, Patrícia; Ferreira, Paula M. T.; Pereira, David M.Fisetin (FST) is a dietary flavonol that is known to possess multiple relevant bioactivities, raising the question of its potential health benefits and even its use in novel pharmacological approaches. To attain this prospect, some limitations to this molecule, namely its poor bioavailability and solubility, must be addressed. Inflammation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are often hand in hand in the cont...
Hydrogels and nanostructures formed from ciprofloxacin–peptide conjugates
Jervis, Peter John; Baptista, Inês; Martins, Luciana; Pereira, David M.; Martins, J. A. R.; Ferreira, Paula M. T.Ciprofloxacin is a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic that possesses potent activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and is used to treat many infections. Despite its widespread use, ciprofloxacin is associated with side effects, which might be reduced by improving its pharmacokinetic properties. The chemical structure of ciprofloxacin is the source of some of its limitations, which...
Aryl-capped lysine-dehydroamino acid dipeptide supergelators as potential drug ...
Oliveira, Carlos B. P.; Pereira, Renato B.; Pereira, David M.; Hilliou, L.; Castro, Tarsila Gabriel; Martins, J. A. R.; Jervis, Peter JohnEmploying amino acids and peptides as molecular building blocks provides unique opportunities for generating supramolecular hydrogels, owing to their inherent biological origin, bioactivity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, they can suffer from proteolytic degradation. Short peptides (<8 amino acids) attached to an aromatic capping group are particularly attractive alternatives for minimalistic ...
Plasmonic lipogels: driving co-assembly of composites with peptide-based gels f...
Veloso, Sérgio Rafael Silva; Gomes, Valéria; Mendes, Sérgio L. F.; Hilliou, L.; Pereira, Renato B; Pereira, David M.; Coutinho, Paulo J. G.Supramolecular short peptide-based gels are promising materials for the controlled release of drugs (e.g. chemotherapeutic drugs) owing to the biocompatibility and similarity to cell matrix. However, the drug encapsulation and control over its release, mainly the hydrophilic drugs, can be a cumbersome task. This can be overcome through encapsulation/compartmentalization of drugs in liposomes, which can also ena...
Liposomal formulations loaded with a eugenol derivative for application as inse...
Fernandes, Maria José Gomes; Pereira, Renato B.; Rodrigues, Ana Rita Oliveira; Vieira, Tatiana F.; Fortes, A. Gil; Pereira, David M.; Sousa, Sérgio F.A recently synthesized new eugenol derivative, ethyl 4-(2-methoxy-4-(oxiran-2-ylmethyl)phenoxy)butanoate, with a high insecticidal activity against Sf9 (Spodoptera frugiperda) insect cells, was encapsulated in the liposomal formulations of egg-phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol (Egg-PC:Ch) 70:30 and 100% dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG), aiming at the future application as insecticides. Compound-loaded DOPG lip...
Eugenol β-amino/β-alkoxy alcohols with selective anticancer activity
Teixeira, Cláudia; Pereira, Renato B.; Pinto, Nuno F. S.; Coelho, Catarina M. M.; Fernandes, Maria José G.; Fortes, A. Gil; Gonçalves, M. Sameiro T.Eugenol, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol, is the main constituent of clove essential oil and has demonstrated relevant biological activity, namely anticancer activity. Aiming to increase this activity, we synthesized a series of eugenol β-amino alcohol and β-alkoxy alcohol derivatives, which were then tested against two human cancer cell lines, namely gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS) and lung adenocarcinoma cells (A5...