Publications by authors named "Luigi Scipione"

The HIV-1 integrase (IN) plays a critical role in the viral lifecycle by integrating the viral DNA into the host chromosome. The catalytic function of IN has been exploited as a target, with five drugs acting as active site binders (IN strand transfer inhibitors, INSTIs). However, IN mutations conferring low-level resistance to INSTIs have been reported.

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It has been more than four years since the first report of SARS-CoV-2, and humankind has experienced a pandemic with an unprecedented impact. Moreover, the new variants have made the situation even worse. Among viral enzymes, the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M) has been deemed a promising drug target vs.

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In this work, phytochemical analysis on different extracts of DC. was reported using different techniques with respect to the past. Twenty volatile and three non-volatile compounds were identified, some of which were found in this species for the first time.

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Developing drugs for brain infection by is an unmet medical need. We used a combination of cheminformatics, target-, and phenotypic-based drug discovery methods to identify inhibitors that target an essential enzyme, sterol 14-demethylase (NfCYP51). A total of 124 compounds preselected were tested against .

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Solid tumors are active tissues containing hypoxic regions and producing metabolic acids. By decreasing pH, cancer cells create a hostile environment for surrounding host cells and foster tumor growth and progression. By governing acid/base regulation, carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are involved in several physiological/pathological processes, including tumors.

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Background: As a result of the paucity of treatment, Leishmaniasis continues to provoke about 60,000 deaths every year worldwide. New molecules are needed, and drug discovery research is oriented toward targeting proteins crucial for parasite survival. Among them, trypanothione reductase (TR) is of remarkable interest owing to its vital role in species protozoan parasite life.

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Alzheimer disease is an age-linked neurodegenerative disorder representing one of the greatest medical care challenges of our century. Several drugs are useful in ameliorating the symptoms, even if none could stop or reverse disease progression. The standard approach is represented by the cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) that restore the levels of acetylcholine (ACh) by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (AChE).

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Influenza viruses are transmitted from human to human via airborne droplets and can be transferred through contaminated environmental surfaces. Some works have demonstrated the efficacy of essential oils (EOs) as antimicrobial and antiviral agents, but most of them examined the liquid phases, which are generally toxic for oral applications. In our study, we describe the antiviral activity of , , and vapor EOs against influenza virus type A.

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  • - This study evaluates the effectiveness of fifty-four nitrofurans and indoles against a specific fungal strain causing histoplasmosis, focusing on compounds with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 7.81 µg/mL or lower.
  • - The compounds' mechanisms of action were explored, revealing that they can disrupt cell walls, reduce ergosterol levels, and induce cell death through necrosis-apoptosis, similar to the established antifungal itraconazole.
  • - Cytotoxicity tests showed that the new compounds were less toxic in a three-dimensional cell culture model compared to traditional monolayer cultures, highlighting their potential as safer treatment options for histoplasmosis.
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Fungal diseases affect more than 1 billion people worldwide. The constant global changes, the advent of new pandemics, and chronic diseases favor the diffusion of fungal pathogens such as , , , , and . In this work, a series of nitrofuran derivatives were synthesized and tested against different fungal species; most of them showed inhibitory activity, fungicide, and fungistatic profile.

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  • A new series of pyrimidine and pyridine diamines were developed as inhibitors targeting two sites on cholinesterases, which are enzymes related to neurotransmitter breakdown.
  • Some of these compounds showed strong inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), with specific compounds demonstrating nanomolar potency.
  • Additionally, certain compounds exhibited antioxidant properties, reduced the aggregation of harmful proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and showed low toxicity in brain cells while being predicted to cross the blood-brain barrier.
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  • The study investigates how deferiprone (DFP), an iron chelator used for thalassemia treatment, impacts the growth of two Gram-negative pathogens, Salmonella serovar Typhimurium (STM) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1).
  • Results show that DFP effectively inhibits the growth of PAO1 but not STM, with differences observed in how iron-dependent genes respond to DFP between the two bacteria.
  • Fluorescent tracing revealed that DFP penetrates PAO1 quickly but not STM, indicating a selective receptor in PAO1, and some DFP derivatives showed varying abilities to affect iron management in both pathogens.
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This study aimed to evaluate the quality of oils available on the Italian market and purchased directly from the mill or in the supermarket and labelled as extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs). As one of the most relevant foods of the Mediterranean diet and recognized as a functional food if regularly consumed, the quality of EVOO needs to be continuously monitored. Different analytical protocols were applied.

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  • - Growing environmental concerns are pushing food industries to embrace a "circular economy," where by-products are repurposed into raw materials for other industries.
  • - The tomato processing industry generates considerable by-products like skins and seeds, which can be used to extract valuable compounds such as lycopene and nutritional oil.
  • - This review highlights recent advancements in extracting lycopene from tomato skins, emphasizing its health benefits and the economic advantages of utilizing tomato by-products.
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Unlabelled: Multiple combinations of antiretroviral drugs have remarkably improved the treatment of HIV-1 infection. However, life-long treatments and drug resistance are still an open issue that requires continuous efforts for the identification of novel antiviral drugs.

Background: The reverse transcriptase-associated ribonuclease H (RNase H) hydrolyzes the HIV genome to allow synthesizing viral DNA.

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Nocodazole is an antineoplastic agent that exerts its effects by depolymerizing microtubules. Herein we report a structural analog of nocodazole, a (1-pyrrol-1-yl)methyl-1-benzoimidazole carbamate ester derivative, named RDS 60. We evaluated the antineoplastic properties of RDS 60 in two human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines and we found that this compound significantly inhibited replication of both HNSCC cell lines without inducing any important cytotoxic effect on human dermal fibroblasts and human keratinocytes.

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Novel anti-HIV agents are still needed to overcome resistance issues, in particular inhibitors acting against novel viral targets. The ribonuclease H (RNase H) function of the reverse transcriptase (RT) represents a validated and promising target, and no inhibitor has reached the clinical pipeline yet. Here, we present rationally designed non-diketo acid selective RNase H inhibitors (RHIs) based on the quinolinone scaffold starting from former dual integrase (IN)/RNase H quinolinonyl diketo acids.

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Candida albicans, in specific conditions, is responsible of severe invasive systemic candidiasis that are related to its ability to produce biofilm on biological and artificial surfaces. Many studies reported the role of iron in fungal growth and virulence and the ability of metal chelating agents to interfere with C. albicans metabolism, virulence and biofilm formation.

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Plant-based systems continue to play a pivotal role in healthcare, and their use has been extensively documented. L. is a genus comprising various herbaceous species, known by the trivial name Asphodelus.

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  • True myrrh, a resinous substance used for medicinal purposes since ancient times, contains numerous metabolites, mainly sesquiterpenes, which have been challenging to identify due to degradation issues in traditional analysis methods like GC-MS.
  • This study utilized supercritical CO2 extraction to analyze myrrh's components more gently, and both HPLC and GC-MS were employed for this purpose.
  • The findings revealed that myrrh extracts, particularly when combined with vitamin E acetate, demonstrate antiviral effects against the influenza A virus, with bioactive compounds furanodienone and curzerene disrupting different stages of viral replication.
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Background: Anticancer drug resistance is a challenging phenomenon of growing concern which arises from alteration in drug targets. Despite the fast speed of new chemotherapeutic agent design, the increasing prevalence of this phenomenon requires further research and treatment development. Recently, we reported a new aminopyrimidine compound-namely RDS 344-as a potential innovative anticancer agent.

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- AD, the most common form of dementia, has a multifactorial etiology, and the current therapy (AChEIs and memantine) is unable to interrupt its progress and fatal outcome. This is reflected in the research programs that are oriented toward the development of new therapeutics able to operate on multiple targets involved in the disease progression. - The patents from 2016 to present regarding the use of AChEIs in AD, concerns the development of new AChEIs, multitarget or multifunctional ligands, or the associations of currently used AChEIs with other compounds acting on different targets involved in the AD.

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  • Researchers replaced the biologically sensitive diketo acid (DKA) with a new non-DKA framework, creating pyrrolyl-pyrazole carboxylic acids as potential RNase H inhibitors for HIV-1 treatment.
  • Among the synthesized compounds, the oxyphenylpyrrolyl-pyrazoles showed high inhibitory activity, with one being notably potent while also demonstrating selectivity for RNase H over integrase.
  • Docking studies and mutagenesis experiments revealed crucial structural features for effective RNase H interaction, and the new compounds also exhibited stability in serum compared to their DKA counterparts, raising their potential for treating drug-resistant HIV-1 variants.
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In order to obtain multi-functional molecules for Alzheimer's disease, a series of deferiprone derivatives has been synthesized and evaluated in vitro with the hypothesis that they can restore the cholinergic tone and attenuate the dyshomeostasis of the metals mainly involved in the pathology. These compounds were designed as dual binding site AChE inhibitors: they possess an arylalkylamine moiety connected via an alkyl chain to a 3-hydroxy-4-pyridone fragment, to allow the simultaneous interaction with catalytic active site (CAS) and peripheral anionic site (PAS) of the enzyme. Deferiprone moiety and 2-aminopyridine, 2-aminopyrimidine or 2,4-diaminopyrimidine groups have been incorporated into these compounds, in order to obtain molecules potentially able to chelate bio-metals colocalized in Aβ plaques and involved in the generation of radical species.

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s spp. (Amaranthaceae family), known as amaranth, are plants native of Central America, today produced in many parts of the world. due to their popularity popular as a health food.

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