40 documents found, page 1 of 4
The use of a selective, nontoxic dual-acting peptide for breast cancer patients...
Cavaco, Marco; Pérez-Peinado, Clara; Valle, Javier; Silva, Rúben; Gano, Lurdes; Correia, João D. G.; Andreu, David; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype characterized by the absence of commonly targeted receptors. Unspecific chemotherapy is currently the main therapeutic option, with poor results. Another major challenge is the frequent appearance of brain metastasis (BM) associated with a significant decrease in patient overall survival. The treatment of BM is even more challenging due to the presen...
vCPP2319 interacts with metastatic breast cancer extracellular vesicles (EVs) a...
Oliveira, Filipa; Cavaco, Marco; Figueira, Tiago Nascimento; Napoleão, Patricia; Valle, Javier; Neves, Vera; Andreu, David; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.Brain metastases (BM) are frequently found in cancer patients and, though their precise incidence is difficult to estimate, there is evidence for a correlation between BM and specific primary cancers, such as lung, breast, and skin (melanoma). Among all these, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed among women and, in this case, BM cause a critical reduction of the overall survival (OS), especially in t...
Vipericidins: a novel family of cathelicidin‑related peptides from the venom gl...
Falcão, Cláudio Borges; La Torre, Beatriz G. de; Pérez‑Peinado, Clara; Barron, Annelise E.; Andreu, David; Rádis-Baptista, GandhiCathelicidins are phylogenetically ancient, pleiotropic host defense peptides—also called antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)—expressed in numerous life forms for innate immunity. Since even the jawless hagfish expresses cathelicidins, these genetically encoded host defense peptides are at least 400 million years old. More recently, cathelicidins with varying antipathogenic activities and cytotoxicities were discover...
Insights into the uptake mechanism of NrTP, A cell-penetrating peptide preferen...
Rádis-Baptista, Gandhi; de la Torre, Beatriz G.; Andreu, DavidNucleolar targeting peptides are 14–15 residue-longsequences designed by structural minimization of asnake toxin (J Med Chem 2008;50:7041). Peptidessuch as NrTP1 (YKQCHKKGGKK GSG) and ana-logues are capable of penetrating human cervix epi-thelial carcinoma cells and homing into theirnucleoli. We now show that NrTP1 similarly pene-trates and localizes in the nucleolus of tumour cellsderived from human pancreatic...
The protein aggregation inhibitor YAT2150 has potent antimalarial activity in P...
Bouzón-Arnáiz, Inés; Avalos-Padilla, Yunuen; Biosca, Arnau; Caño-Prades, Omar; Román-Álamo, Lucía; Valle, Javier; Andreu, David; Moita, DianaBackground: By 2016, signs of emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin and partner drugs were detected in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Recently, the independent evolution of artemisinin resistance has also been reported in Africa and South America. This alarming scenario calls for the urgent development of new antimalarials with novel modes of action. We investigated the interference with p...
Targeting Zika virus with new brain- and placenta-crossing peptide–porphyrin co...
Todorovski, Toni; Mendonça, Diogo A.; Fernandes-Siqueira, Lorena O.; Cruz-Oliveira, Christine; Guida, Giuseppina; Valle, Javier; Cavaco, MarcoViral disease outbreaks affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide and remain a serious threat to global health. The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and other recent geographically-confined viral outbreaks (severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola, dengue, zika and ever-recurring seasonal influenza), also with devastating tolls at sanitary and socio-economic levels, are sobering reminders in this respec...
The antiproliferative peptide Ctn[15-34] is active against multidrug-resistant ...
Aguiar, Francisca Lidiane Linhares de; Cavalcante, Carolina Sidrim De Paula; Fontenelle, Raquel Oliveira dos Santos; Falcão, Cláudio Borgesims: Crotalicidin (Ctn), a cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide from theSouth American rattlesnake venom gland, and its C-terminal Ctn[15-34] fragment,have exhibited important activities against micro-organisms, trypanosomatidprotozoa and certain lines of tumour cells. Herein, the activity against clinicalstrains of fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans and of amphotericin B andfluconazole-resistant Crypto...
Penetrating the blood brain barrier with new peptide porphyrin conjugates havin...
Mendonça, Diogo A.; Bakker, Mariët; Cruz-Oliveira, Christine; Neves, Vera; Angeles Jiménez, Maria; Defaus, Sira; Cavaco, Marco; Veiga, Ana SaloméPassing through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat neurological conditions is one of the main hurdles in modern medicine. Many drugs with promising in vitro profiles become ineffective in vivo due to BBB restrictive permeability. In particular, this includes drugs such as antiviral porphyrins, with the ability to fight brain-resident viruses causing diseases such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (...
Orally active peptide vector allows using cannabis to fight pain while avoiding...
Gallo, Maria; Moreno, Estefanía; Defaus, Sira; Ortega-Alvaro, Antonio; Gonzalez, Angel; Robledo, Patricia; Cavaco, Marco; Neves, VeraThe activation of cannabinoid CB1 receptors (CB1R) by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main component of Cannabis sativa, induces analgesia. CB1R activation, however, also causes cognitive impairment via the serotonin 5HT2A receptor (5HT2AR), a component of a CB1R–5HT2AR heteromer, posing a serious drawback for cannabinoid therapeutic use. We have shown that peptides reproducing CB1R transmembrane (TM) helice...
Development of breast cancer spheroids to evaluate cytotoxic response to an ant...
Cavaco, Marco; Fraga, Patrícia; Valle, Javier; Andreu, David; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.; Neves, VeraBreast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths. Despite intense research efforts, BC treatment still remains challenging. Improved drug development strategies are needed for impactful benefit to patients. Current preclinical studies rely mostly on cell-based screenings, using two-dimensional (2D) cell monolayers that do not mimic in v...