Publications by authors named "Milagros Lorenzo"

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) is the lead effector of atherosclerosis and main treatment target. Bempedoic acid is a novel oral drug in the therapeutic armamentarium which is able to reduce LDLc. The objectives of this study were (1) to select the potential patients for administering bempedoic acid such as those with a very high cardiovascular risk in which objectives of LDLc were not achieved despite conventional treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9i) and/or statins and ezetimibe and (2) to estimate the cost-effectiveness of bempedoic acid in different scenarios.

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Activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway occurs frequently in a wide range of human cancers and is a main driver of cell growth, proliferation, survival, and chemoresistance of cancer cells. Compounds targeting this pathway are under active development as anticancer therapeutics and some of them have reached advanced clinical trials or been approved by the FDA. Dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors combine multiple therapeutic efficacies in a single molecule by inhibiting the pathway both upstream and downstream of AKT.

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Malaria is still one of the most prevalent parasitic infections in the world, with half of the world's population at risk for malaria. The effectiveness of current antimalarial therapies, even that of the most recent class of antimalarial drugs (artemisinin-combination therapies, ACTs), is under continuous threat by the spread of resistant Plasmodium strains. As a consequence, there is still an urgent requirement for new antimalarial drugs.

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A new synthesis of the antimalarial clinical candidate GSK932121 is described. This approach has two key reactions, the selective acylation of an unprotected 3-hydroxymethyl-5-methyl isoxazole and the reductive N-O bond cleavage of the previously functionalized isoxazole derivative, to give the 4-(1H)pyridone ring present in the final structure. The complete synthesis consists of 5 steps (versus 10 steps in previously published reports) and has enabled the preparation of the material in kilogram scale to support clinical studies.

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Phosphoinositide-3-kinases (PI3K) are a family of lipid kinases mediating numerous cell processes such as proliferation, migration and differentiation. PI3K is an important target for cancer therapeutics due to the deregulation of this signaling pathway in a wide variety of human cancers. Herein, we describe the rapid identification of ETP-46992, within 2-aminocarbonyl imidazo [1,2-a] pyrazine series, with suitable pharmacokinetic (PK) properties that allows the establishment of mechanism of action and efficacy in vivo studies.

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Inhibitors of PI3K signaling are of great therapeutic interest in oncology. The phosphoinositide-3-kinase signaling pathway is activated in a variety of solid and non-solid tumors. We have identified an imidazopyrazine derivative, ETP-46321, as a potent inhibitor of PI3Kα [Formula: see text].

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Article Synopsis
  • PI3K is a critical target for cancer therapies due to its role in various cancers, making its inhibition a viable treatment strategy.
  • Researchers optimized imidazo [1,2-a] pyrazines, leading to the discovery of compound 14 (ETP-46321), known for its strong activity and favorable pharmacokinetics when taken orally.
  • In studies, ETP-46321 effectively reduced AKT(Ser473) phosphorylation in a time-dependent manner, correlating with its presence in tumor tissues and demonstrating significant tumor growth inhibition in a mouse model with a K-Ras mutation.
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Article Synopsis
  • PI3K is a crucial target in cancer treatment because its signaling pathway is often disrupted in many cancers.
  • Researchers have developed a new group of compounds known as imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazines that act as inhibitors of PI3K.
  • These novel inhibitors could potentially improve cancer therapies by targeting the deregulated PI3K pathway.
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Antimalarial 4-pyridones are a novel class of inhibitors of the plasmodial mitochondrial electron transport chain targeting Cytochrome bc1 (complex III). In general, the most potent 4-pyridones are lipophilic molecules with poor solubility in aqueous media and low oral bioavailability in pre-clinical species from the solid dosage form. The strategy of introducing polar hydroxymethyl groups has enabled us to maintain the high levels of antimalarial potency observed for other more lipophilic analogues whilst improving the solubility and the oral bioavailability in pre-clinical species.

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Activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway is one the most frequent genetic events in human cancer. A cell-based imaging assay that monitored the translocation of the Akt effector protein, Forkhead box O (FOXO), from the cytoplasm to the nucleus was employed to screen a collection of 33,992 small molecules. The positive compounds were used to screen kinases known to be involved in FOXO translocation.

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Treatment of acyclic alpha-hydroxyalkyl alpha,beta-unsaturated sulfoxides with t-BuOOH/VO(acac)2 results in rapid oxidation to the unsaturated sulfones followed by an unusual regio- and stereoselective epoxidation at the unsaturated sulfones; this methodology has been applied to the preparation of carbohydrate-like fragments.

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