Publications by authors named "Catarina Roma-Rodrigues"

Biotechnological active peptides are gaining interest in the cosmetics industry due to their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-collagenase (ACE) effects, as well as wound healing properties, making them suitable for cosmetic formulations. The antimicrobial activity of peptides (2-10 kDa) secreted by Ethanol-Red was evaluated against dermal pathogens using broth microdilution and challenge tests. ACE was assessed using a collagenase activity colorimetric assay, antioxidant activity via spectrophotometric monitoring of nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) reduction, and anti-inflammatory effects by quantifying TNF-α mRNA in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-exposed dermal fibroblasts.

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Azaindole scaffold is a privileged structure in medicinal chemistry and some derivatives have demonstrated to be potential anticancer drugs. Herein, a set of novel azaindoles, comprising the four regioisomers, bearing a morpholine (azaindoles 3 a-d) and N-methyl-N-benzylamine (azaindoles 4 a-d) groups were prepared. Among these compounds, azaindoles 4 exhibited higher cytotoxicity against the ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and normal dermal fibroblasts compared to azaindoles 3.

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Article Synopsis
  • Research on the tumor microenvironment (TME) has gained importance as it affects tumor growth, progression, and treatment response.
  • The study focused on characterizing colorectal cancer spheroids to see how doxorubicin (Dox) resistance and the presence of fibroblasts impact their secretory activity and response to chemotherapy.
  • Results indicated that fibroblasts stabilize spheroids and influence their characteristics, enhancing the understanding of TME in chemotherapy resistance and making heterotypic spheroids useful for cancer research.
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The rising demand for minimally processed, natural, and healthier food products has led to the search for alternative and multifunctional bioactive food components. Therefore, the present study focuses on the functional proprieties of a peptide fraction derived from metabolism. The antimicrobial activity of the peptide fraction is evaluated against various foodborne pathogens, including , , , , and sp.

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FucoPol, a fucose-rich polyanionic polysaccharide, was used for the first time for the preparation of hydrogel membranes (HMs) using Fe as a crosslinking agent. This study evaluated the impact of Fe and FucoPol concentrations on the HMs' strength. The results show that, above 1.

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Neoangiogenesis is generally correlated with poor prognosis, due to the promotion of cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis. The progression of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is frequently associated with an increased vascular density in bone marrow. From a molecular point of view, the small GTP-binding protein Rab11a, involved in the endosomal slow recycling pathway, has been shown to play a crucial role for the neoangiogenic process at the bone marrow of CML patients, by controlling the secretion of exosomes by CML cells, and by regulating the recycling of vascular endothelial factor receptors.

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Chitin-glucan complex (CGC) hydrogels were fabricated by coagulation of the biopolymer from an aqueous alkaline solution, and their morphology, swelling behavior, mechanical, rheological, and biological properties were studied. In addition, their in vitro drug loading/release ability and permeation through mimic-skin artificial membranes (Strat-M) were assessed. The CGC hydrogels prepared from 4 and 6 wt% CGC suspensions (Na5* and Na5* hydrogels, respectively) had polymer contents of 2.

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Estradiol-BODIPY linked via an 8-carbon spacer chain and 19-nortestosterone- and testosterone-BODIPY linked via an ethynyl spacer group were evaluated for cell uptake in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and LNCaP, as well as in normal dermal fibroblasts, using fluorescence microscopy. The highest level of internalization was observed with 11β-OMe-estradiol-BODIPY and 7α-Me-19-nortestosterone-BODIPY towards cells expressing their specific receptors. Blocking experiments showed changes in non-specific cell uptake in the cancer and normal cells, which likely reflect differences in the lipophilicity of the conjugates.

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Melanoma cells secrete pro-angiogenic factors, which stimulates growth, proliferation and metastasis, and therefore are key therapeutic targets. (BS), and an isolated triterpenoid mixture (DT-BS-01) showed a fifty percent inhibitory concentration (IC) of 33.80 ± 1.

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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and fatal primary brain tumor, and is highly resistant to conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, the development of multidrug resistance and tumor recurrence are frequent. Given the poor survival with the current treatments, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed.

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Ruthenium(II) arene complexes exhibit promising chemotherapeutic properties. In this study, the effect of the counter anion in Ru(II) complexes was evaluated by analyzing the biological effect of two Ru(II) -cymene derivatives with the 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione ligand of general-formula [(η-arene)Ru(L)Cl][X] X = CFSO (JHOR10) and PF (JHOR11). The biological activity of JHOR10 and JHOR11 was examined in the ovarian carcinoma cell line A2780, colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116, doxorubicin-resistant HCT116 (HCT116-Dox) and in normal human dermal fibroblasts.

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Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a rare malignant proliferative disease of the hematopoietic system, whose molecular hallmark is the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph). The Ph chromosome originates an aberrant fusion gene with abnormal kinase activity, leading to the buildup of reactive oxygen species and genetic instability of relevance in disease progression. Several genetic abnormalities have been correlated with CML in the blast phase, including chromosomal aberrations and common altered genes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines the aggregation process of various gold(I) complexes with a specific ligand and phosphane, focusing on their biological activity and how they enter cells through methods like spectroscopy and scattering techniques.
  • - It was found that all tested complexes aggregate in fresh solutions before any biological treatment, indicating they likely enter cells as aggregates.
  • - Analysis revealed that mononuclear complexes primarily localize in the cytosol, while dinuclear complexes are mainly found in nuclear and cytoskeletal fractions, with dinuclear complexes significantly affecting actin aggregation, suggesting a cooperative effect.
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The antiproliferative activity of [Mn(CO)(N^N)Br] (N^N = phendione 1, bipy 3) and of the two newly synthesized Mn complexes [Mn(CO)(acridine)(phendione)]OTf (2) and [Mn(CO)(di-triazole)Br] (4) has been evaluated by MTS against three tumor cell lines A2780 (ovarian carcinoma), HCT116 (colorectal carcinoma), HCT116doxR (colorectal carcinoma resistant to doxorubicin), and in human dermal fibroblasts. The antiproliferative assay showed a dose-dependent effect higher in complex 1 and 2 with a selectivity toward ovarian carcinoma cell line 21 times higher than in human fibroblasts. Exposure of A2780 cells to IC concentrations of complex 1 and 2 led to an increase of reactive oxygen species that led to the activation of cell death mechanisms, namely via intrinsic apoptosis for 2 and autophagy and extrinsic apoptosis for 1.

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The clinical success of cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin has sparked the interest of medicinal inorganic chemistry to synthesize and study compounds with non-platinum metal centers. Despite Ru(II)-polypyridyl complexes being widely studied and well established for their antitumor properties, there are not enough in vivo studies to establish the potentiality of this type of compound. Therefore, we report to the best of our knowledge the first in vivo study of Ru(II)-polypyridyl complexes against breast cancer with promising results.

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subsp. (SDSD) has been considered a strict animal pathogen. Nevertheless, the recent reports of human infections suggest a niche expansion for this subspecies, which may be a consequence of the virulence gene acquisition that increases its pathogenicity.

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A new series of half-sandwich ruthenium(II) compounds [(η-arene)Ru(L)Cl][CFSO] bearing 1,2,3-triazole ligands (arene = -cymene, L = (); arene = -cymene, L = (); arene = benzene, L = (); arene = benzene, (); = 2-[1-(-tolyl)-1-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl]pyridine and = 1,1'-di--tolyl-1,1'-4,4'-bi(1,2,3-triazole) have been synthesized and fully characterized by H and C NMR and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The molecular structures of , , and have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The cytotoxic activity of - was evaluated using the MTS assay against human tumor cells, namely ovarian carcinoma (A2780), colorectal carcinoma (HCT116), and colorectal carcinoma resistant to doxorubicin (HCT116dox), and against normal primary fibroblasts.

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Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Cisplatin has challenged cancer treatment; however, resistance and side effects hamper its use. New agents displaying improved activity and more reduced side effects relative to cisplatin are needed.

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Palladacycles are versatile organometallic compounds that show potential for therapeutic use. Here are described the synthesis and characterization of mono- and dinuclear palladacycles bearing diphosphines. Their biological effect was investigated in A2780, an ovarian-derived cancer line, and in normal dermal fibroblasts.

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Ruthenium(II) complexes are currently considered attractive alternatives to the widely used platinum-based drugs. We present herein the synthesis and characterization of half-sandwich ruthenium compounds formulated as [Ru(-cymene)(L)Cl][CFSO] (L = 1,1-bis(methylenediphenylphosphano)ethylene, ; L = 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphano)ethylene, ), which were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, H and P{H} NMR, UV-vis and IR spectroscopy, conductivity measurements and cyclic voltammetry. The molecular structures for both complexes were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

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Cancer treatment has yet to find a "silver bullet" capable of selectively and effectively kill tumor cells without damaging healthy cells. Nanomedicine is a promising field that can combine several moieties in one system to produce a multifaceted nanoplatform. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is considered responsible for the ineffectiveness of cancer therapeutics and the difficulty in the translation from the bench to bed side of novel nanomedicines.

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Edible flowers are being used as a new ingredient in modern gastronomy. Recently, these products have also gained interest as an important source of phenolic compounds with potential for biomedical applications. The present work studied a methanolic extract of Rosa x hybrida in which 35 individual phenolic compounds were identified.

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Cancer is still one of the deadliest diseases worldwide despite the efforts in its early detection and treatment strategies. However, most chemotherapeutic agents still present side effects in normal tissues and acquired resistance that limit their efficacy. Spiropyrazoline oxindoles might be good alternatives as they have shown antiproliferative activity in human breast and colon cancer cell lines, without eliciting cytotoxicity in healthy cells.

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Current cancer therapies are frequently ineffective and associated with severe side effects and with acquired cancer drug resistance. The development of effective therapies has been hampered by poor correlations between pre-clinical and clinical outcomes. Cancer cell-derived spheroids are three-dimensional (3D) structures that mimic layers of tumors in terms of oxygen and nutrient and drug resistance gradients.

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Magnetic hyperthermia is a cancer treatment based on the exposure of magnetic nanoparticles to an alternating magnetic field in order to generate local heat. In this work, 3D cell culture models were prepared to observe the effect that a different number of internalized particles had on the mechanisms of cell death triggered upon the magnetic hyperthermia treatment. Macrophages were selected by their high capacity to uptake nanoparticles.

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