Synthesis of calcium-silica composites: a route toward an in vitro model system for calcific band keratopathy precipitates.

Calcific band keratopathy (CBK) is a degenerative condition resulting in the deposition of calcium salts in the superficial layers of the cornea and causing significant visual disturbance and pain of the affected eye. Unfortunately, the amount of CBK precipitates recovered from the affected eye is very small therefore; it would be beneficial to prepare a synthetic material mimicking CBK material to further the development of therapeutics. Analyses of biological samples recovered from patients show the presence of silicon in addition to calcium, as well as a distinctive fused spherical morphology.

Nanoscale enzyme inhibitors: fullerenes inhibit carbonic anhydrase by occluding the active site entrance.

We investigated a series of derivatized fullerenes possessing alcohol, amine, and amino acid pendant groups as inhibitors of the zinc enzymes carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.

In silico drug screening approach for the design of magic bullets: a successful example with anti-HIV fullerene derivatized amino acids.

A database has been derived from recently reported [60]fullerene derivatives, and their binding scores with HIV-1 PR have been computed using docking techniques. Computational methods have been used to predict which derivatives may have high binding affinities, and for these compounds biological tests have been performed with purified PR. Experimental results confirm the high binding scores of fullerene derivatives predicted from the docking calculations.