Publications by authors named "Francisco Jaime Bezerra Mendonca-Junior"

Thiadiazines are heterocyclic compounds known for some pharmacological activities. However, the ability of these compounds and their derivatives to act as antibacterial agents and inhibitors of the efflux system in resistant bacteria remains unknown. This study aims to evaluate the antibacterial and NorA efflux pump inhibitory activities of thiadiazine-derived compounds (IJ14, IJ15, IJ16, IJ17, IJ18, IJ19, and IJ20) against the Staphylococcus aureus 1199B strain.

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Leishmaniasis, caused by Leishmania parasites, presents a major global health challenge due to limitations of existing treatments, including toxicity, side effects, drug resistance, and high costs. This study utilized the MuDRA (Multi-Descriptor Read Across) model for virtual screening to identify potential anti-Leishmania infantum compounds. A set of 15 terpenes and steroids was screened, leading to the identification of four promising candidates-lupeol, xylodiol, morolic acid, and trachyloban-18-oic acid.

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A stroke, also known as a cerebral hemorrhage, occurs when there is an interruption in the blood supply to a part of the brain, resulting in damage to brain cells. This issue is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries, currently killing about 5 million people annually. Individuals who survive ischemic stroke often face serious vision problems, paralysis, dementia, and other sequelae.

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Leishmaniasis is a group of neglected, vector-borne infectious diseases that affect millions of people around the world. The medications available for its treatment, especially in cases of visceral leishmaniasis, are old, outdated and have serious side effects. In this work, 10 chalcones were synthesised and evaluated against promastigotes and axenic amastigotes of .

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Antimicrobials fight microorganisms, preventing and treating infectious diseases. However, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern due to the inappropriate and excessive use of these drugs. Several mechanisms can lead to resistance, including efflux pumps such as the NorA pump in Staphylococcus aureus, which reduces the effectiveness of fluoroquinolones.

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Candida species resistant to fluconazole have raised concern in the scientific medical community due to high mortality in patients with invasive disease. In developing countries, such as Brazil, fluconazole is the most commonly used antifungal, and alternative treatments are expensive or not readily available. Furthermore, the occurrence of biofilms is common, coupled with their inherent resistance to antifungal therapies and the host's immune system, these microbial communities have contributed to making infections caused by these yeasts an enormous clinical challenge.

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Recent advances in genome-wide studies have revealed numerous epigenetic regulations brought about by genes involved in cellular metabolism. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), an essential enzyme, that converts isocitrate into -ketoglutarate (KG) predominantly in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, has gained particular importance due to its cardinal role in the metabolic pathway in cells. IDH1, IDH2, and IDH3 are the three isomeric IDH enzymes that have been shown to regulate cellular metabolism.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The research focuses on finding new inhibitors for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor receptors (VEGFRs) using in-silico approaches and specifically targets VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3 through computational methods.
  • * Molecular docking studies identified several promising compounds with high binding affinity for VEGFRs, and further analysis through Molecular Dynamics simulations confirmed their stability and potential effectiveness as treatment options. *
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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a devastating autoimmune illness with a wide range of clinical symptoms, including vascular abnormalities, inflammation, and persistent and progressive fibrosis. The disease's complicated pathophysiology makes it difficult to develop effective therapies, necessitating research into novel therapeutic options. Molecular hybridization is a strategy that can be used to develop new drugs that act on two or multiple targets and represents an interesting option to be explored for the treatment of complex diseases.

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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which remains a significant global health challenge. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mtb strains imposes the development of new therapeutic strategies. This study focuses on the identification and evaluation of potential inhibitors against Mtb H37Ra through a comprehensive screening of an in-house chemolibrary.

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Protozoal diseases, such as leishmaniasis, malaria, African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, amoebiasis, giardiasis, cryptococcosis, and toxoplasmosis (among others), affect and/or have the potential to infect more than one billion people worldwide [...

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Background: Thiadiazines are heterocyclic compounds that contain two nitrogen atoms and one sulfur atom in their structure. These synthetic molecules have several relevant pharmacological activities, such as antifungal, antibacterial, and antiparasitic.

Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the possible in vitro and in silico interactions of compounds derived from thiadiazines.

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Cancer is a multifactorial disease that continues to increase. Lignans are known to be important anticancer agents. However, due to the structural diversity of lignans, it is difficult to associate anticancer activity with a particular subclass.

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Leishmaniasis, presenting the highest number of cases worldwide is one of the most serious Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Clinical manifestations are intrinsically related to the host's immune response making immunomodulatory substances the target of numerous studies on antileishmanial activity. The currently available drugs used for treatment present various problems including high toxicity, low efficacy, and associated drug resistance.

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The present study proposed the synthesis of a novel acridine derivative not yet described in the literature, chemical characterization by NMR, MS, and IR, followed by investigations of its antileishmanial potential. In vitro assays were performed to assess its antileishmanial activity against strains and cytotoxicity against macrophages through MTT assay and annexin V-FITC/PI, and the ability to perform an immunomodulatory action using CBA. To investigate possible molecular targets, its interaction with DNA in vitro and in silico targets were evaluated.

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Chalcones are direct precursors in the biosynthesis of flavonoids. They have an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl system which gives them broad biological properties. Among the biological properties exerted by chalcones, their ability to suppress tumors stands out, in addition to their low toxicity.

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Cancer represents the main cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, constituting a serious health problem. In this context, melanoma represents the most aggressive and fatal type of skin cancer, with death rates increasing every year. Scientific efforts have been addressed to the development of inhibitors targeting the tyrosinase enzyme as potential anti-melanoma agents due to the importance of this enzyme in melanogenesis biosynthesis.

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Introduction: Thiophene derivatives have been widely studied as promising options for the treatment of solid tumors. Previous studies have shown that thiophene derivatives have antileishmanial activity and cytotoxic activity against breast, colon, and ovarian cancer cells.

Methods: In our study, we evaluated the anticancer activities of three aminothiophene derivatives: SB-44, SB-83, and SB-200, in prostate and cervical adenocarcinoma cells.

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The leishmaniasis is a neglected disease caused by a group of protozoan parasites from the genus Leishmania whose treatment is limited, obsolete, toxic, and ineffective in certain cases. These characteristics motivate researchers worldwide to plan new therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of leishmaniasis, where the use of cheminformatics tools applied to computer-assisted drug design has allowed research to make great advances in the search for new drugs candidates. In this study, a series of 2-amino-thiophene (2-AT) derivatives was screened virtually using QSAR tools, ADMET filters and prediction models, allowing direct the synthesis of compounds, which were evaluated in vitro against promastigotes and axenic amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis.

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The World Health Organization classifies Leishmania as one of the 17 “neglected diseases” that burden tropical and sub-tropical climate regions with over half a million diagnosed cases each year. Despite this, currently available anti-leishmania drugs have high toxicity and the potential to be made obsolete by parasite drug resistance. We chose to analyze organoselenides for leishmanicidal potential given the reduced toxicity inherent to selenium and the displayed biological activity of organoselenides against Leishmania.

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The discovery of antibiotics was a revolutionary feat that provided countless health benefits. The identification of penicillin by Alexander Fleming initiated the era of antibiotics, represented by constant discoveries that enabled effective treatments for the different classes of diseases caused by bacteria. However, the indiscriminate use of these drugs allowed the emergence of resistance mechanisms of these microorganisms against the available drugs.

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In this study, films of chitosan and 2-amino-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[]thiophene-3-carbonitrile (6CN), a 2-aminothiophene derivative with great pharmacological potential, were prepared as a system for a topical formulation. 6CN-chitosan films were characterized by physicochemical analyses, such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Additionally, the antifungal potential of the films was evaluated in vitro against three species of (, , and ).

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A series of coumarin derivatives and isosteres were synthesized from the reaction of triflic intermediates with phenylboronic acids, terminal alkynes, and organozinc compounds through -catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of the compounds was evaluated against two non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines (A-549 and H2170) and a normal cell line (NIH-3T3) using cisplatin as a reference drug. Additionally, the effects of the most promising coumarin derivative () in reversing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in IL-1β-stimulated A549 cells and in inhibiting the EMT-associated migratory ability in A549 cells were also evaluated.

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Rheumatoid arthritis, arthrosis and gout, among other chronic inflammatory diseases are public health problems and represent major therapeutic challenges. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most prescribed clinical treatments, despite their severe side effects and their exclusive action in improving symptoms, without effectively promoting the cure. However, recent advances in the fields of pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and chemoinformatics have provided valuable information and opportunities for development of new anti-inflammatory drug candidates.

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