Publications by authors named "Concettina la Motta"

Infections from Helicobacter pylori (Hp) are endangering Public Health safety worldwide, due to the associated high risk of developing severe diseases, such as peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Current therapies are becoming less effective due to the rise of (multi)drug-resistant phenotypes and an urgent need for new antibacterial agents with innovative mechanisms of action is pressing. Among the most promising pharmacological targets, Carbonic Anhydrases (EC: 4.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Oncogenic tyrosine kinases (TK) are enzymes that play a key role in cell growth and proliferation and their mutations can lead to uncontrolled cell growth and development of aggressive cancer. This knowledge has led to the development of new classes of drugs, Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). They target oncogenic kinases who are associated with advanced radioactive iodine (RAI) refractory TC, which is not able to uptake RAI anymore and/or still grows between consecutive treatments with Iodine 131 (I131).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Aldehyde dehydrogenases of the 1A subfamily (ALDH1A) are key enzymes that convert retinal into retinoic acid (RA), which is crucial for various bodily functions including development, reproduction, and immune response.* -
  • ALDH1A3, a specific isoform of ALDH1A, plays a significant role in cancers like glioblastoma multiforme and mesothelioma, where its levels are linked to poor patient prognosis due to increased tumor growth and resistance to treatment.* -
  • Recent research is focused on creating selective inhibitors for ALDH1A3 as a cancer therapy and developing specific fluorescent markers for better surgical resection of tumors.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the deadliest human cancers and represents <2% of thyroid carcinomas. A therapeutic target for ATC is represented by anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, involved in tumor growth. Crizotinib is an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of the ALK, MET, and ROS1 kinases, approved in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The oral cavity harbors an extensive array of over 700 microorganisms, forming the most complex biome of the entire human body, with bacterial species being the most abundant. Oral diseases, periodontitis and caries, are strictly associated with bacterial dysbiosis. and stand out among bacteria colonizing the oral cavity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A new series of hybrid derivatives inspired by nature were developed and tested as potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease, merging specific bioactive components with naturally occurring acids.
  • The compounds were evaluated for their ability to bind biometals (like Cu, Zn, Fe) and their antioxidant properties using various assays.
  • The most promising compounds showed strong antioxidant and metal-binding activities, and further studies aimed to see if they could influence the interaction between transthyretin and Aβ protein linked to Alzheimer's disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 (ALDH1A3), one of the three members of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A subfamily, has been associated with increased progression and drug resistance in various types of solid tumours. Recently, it has been reported that high ALDH1A3 expression is prognostic of poor survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), an asbestos-associated chemoresistant cancer. We treated MPM cells, cultured as multicellular spheroids, with NR6, a potent and highly selective ALDH1A3 inhibitor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a rare and rapidly fatal human cancer. Its usual treatment includes the combination of surgery, external hyperfractionated radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These treatments permit achieving about 6-10 months of median survival.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Euplotin C is a sesquiterpene of marine origin endowed with significant anti-microbial and anti-tumor properties. Despite the promising functional profile, its progress as a novel drug candidate has failed so far, due to its scarce solubility and poor stability in aqueous media, such as biological fluids. Therefore, overcoming these limits is an intriguing challenge for the scientific community.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The coenzyme Q is a naturally occurring benzoquinone derivative widely prescribed as a food supplement for different physical conditions and pathologies. This review aims to sum up the key structural and functional characteristics of Q, taking stock of its use in people affected by fibromyalgia. A thorough survey has been conducted, using Pubmed, Scifinder, and ClinicalTrials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carotenoids are bioactive compounds provided by the diet playing a key role in maintaining human health. Therefore, they should be ingested daily in an adequate amount. However, even a varied and well-balanced diet does not guarantee an adequate intake, as both the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of the compounds significantly affect their absorption.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aldose reductase (ALR2) is the enzyme in charge of developing cellular toxicity caused by diabetic hyperglycemia, which in turn leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species triggering oxidative stress. Therefore, inhibiting ALR2 while pursuing a concomitant anti-oxidant activity through dual-acting agents is now recognized as the gold standard treatment for preventing or at least delaying the progression of diabetic complications. Herein we describe a novel series of ()-benzaldehyde -benzyl oximes , , , and as ALR2 inhibitors endowed with anti-oxidant properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Deemed as poorly represented in nature, aurones have been often overlooked by researchers compared to other members of the flavonoid superfamily. However, over the past two decades, they have been reassessed by the scientific community, who are increasingly appreciating their ability to modulate several biological pathways. This review summarizes the recent literature on this class of compounds, which has been analyzed from both a chemical and a functional point of view.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC; >90% of all TCs) derives from follicular cells. Surgery is the main therapeutic strategy, and radioiodine (RAI) is administered after thyroidectomy. When DTC progresses, it does not respond to RAI and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-suppressive thyroid hormone treatment, and other therapies (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inhibition of mTOR is the standard of care for lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). However, this therapy has variable tolerability and some patients show progressive decline of lung function despite treatment. LAM diagnosis and monitoring can also be challenging due to the heterogeneity of symptoms and insufficiency of non-invasive tests.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drugs targeting epigenetic mechanisms are attracting the attention of scientists since it was observed that the modulation of this post-translational apparatus, could help to identify innovative therapeutic strategies. Among the epigenetic druggable targets, the positive modulation of SIRT1 has also been related to significant cardioprotective effects. Unfortunately, actual SIRT1 activators (natural products and synthetic molecules) suffer from several drawbacks, particularly poor pharmacokinetic profiles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acadesine (ACA), a pharmacological activator of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), showed a promising beneficial effect in a mouse model of colitis, indicating this drug as an alternative tool to manage IBDs. However, ACA displays some pharmacodynamic limitations precluding its therapeutical applications. Our study was aimed at evaluating the in vitro and in vivo effects of FA-5 (a novel direct AMPK activator synthesized in our laboratories) in an experimental model of colitis in rats.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • ALDH1A3 is an enzyme involved in converting aldehydes to carboxylic acids and is linked to cancer stem cells, which are associated with higher cancer relapse risks and poor outcomes.
  • Researchers characterized NR6, a new selective inhibitor of ALDH1A3, showing it effectively targets cancer cells and binds to a unique site in the enzyme.
  • NR6 exhibits anti-metastatic properties and reduces cancer stem cell markers, suggesting it could be a valuable candidate for further research in treating glioblastoma and colorectal cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prostate cancer represents the most common malignancy diagnosed in men, and is the second-leading cause of cancer death in this population. In spite of dedicated efforts, the current therapies are rarely curative, requiring the development of novel approaches based on innovative molecular targets. In this work, we validated aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 and 1A3 isoform expressions in different prostatic tissue-derived cell lines (normal, benign and malignant) and patient-derived primary prostate tumor epithelial cells, demonstrating their potential for therapeutic intervention using a small library of aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Treatments that inhibit these enzymes could be an effective approach to cancer therapy.
  • * A new series of compounds called imidazo[1,2-]pyridines were developed as inhibitors targeting the ALDH1A family, with one compound showing promising efficacy as a new competitive inhibitor for the ALDH1A3 isoform.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Aldose reductase is an important enzyme linked to long-term complications in diabetes, making its inhibition a potential treatment option.
  • Researchers have developed a new class of oxyimino derivatives that are effective inhibitors of aldose reductase, created by reacting 1,5-dicarbonyl compounds with (arylmethyl)hydroxylamines.
  • The most effective inhibitor from this study not only inhibited aldose reductase but also reduced cell death and apoptosis in a model of diabetic retinopathy under high-glucose conditions, suggesting a protective role against oxidative stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 is overexpressed in these resistant cells and targeting this enzyme could potentially improve treatment outcomes for GBM.
  • * A new class of imidazo[1,2-]pyridine derivatives has been identified as effective inhibitors of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3, showing significant efficacy against GBM stem-like cells and representing a promising strategy for combating this deadly cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development of efficacious therapies targeting metastatic spread of breast cancer to the brain represents an unmet clinical need. Accordingly, an improved understanding of the molecular underpinnings of central nervous system spread and progression of breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM) is required. In this study, the clinical burden of disease in BCBM was investigated, as well as the role of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 (ALDH1A3) in the metastatic cascade leading to BCBM development.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the deadliest human cancers and it is less than 2% of thyroid carcinomas (TCs). The standard treatment of ATC includes surgical debulking, accelerated hyperfractionated external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), and chemotherapy, in particular with cisplatin or doxorubicin, achieving about 10 months of median survival. Since ATC is a rare and aggressive tumor, it is still challenging to predict the patient clinical therapy responsiveness.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF