Search results for "010404 medicinal & biomolecular chemistry"
showing 10 items of 373 documents
GC and GC-–MS Analysis of Volatile Compounds From Ballota nigra subsp. uncinata Collected in Aeolian Islands, Sicily (Southern Italy)
2020
In the present study, the chemical composition of the essential oils from aerial parts of Ballota nigra subsp. uncinata (Bég.) Patzak collected in Sicily was evaluated by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry. The main components of the oil were ( E)-phytol (20.0%), α-pinene (9.0%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (5.7%), and α-selinene (5.1%). Cluster analysis of the essential oil compositions of all the taxa belonging to B. nigra s.l. group was performed.
Contribution to a Taxonomic Revision of the Sicilian Helichrysum Taxa by PCA Analysis of Their Essential-Oil Compositions
2016
The chemical profile of the essential oils in ten populations of the genus Helichrysum Mill. (Asteraceae), collected in the loci classici of the nomenclatural types of the taxa endemic to Sicily, were analyzed. Our results confirm that the analysis of secondary metabolites can be used to fingerprint wild populations of Helichrysum, the chemical profiles being coherent with the systematic arrangement of the investigated populations in three main clusters, referring to the aggregates of H. stoechas, H. rupestre, and H. italicum, all belonging to the section Stoechadina. The correct nomenclatural designation of the investigated populations is discussed and the following two new combinations ar…
Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil of Mentha pulegium Growing Wild in Sicily and its Activity on Microorganisms Affecting Historical Art Crafts
2017
The chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Mentha pulegium L. (Linné) collected in Sicily was evaluated by GC and GC-MS. The main components were pulegone (50.6%), piperitenone (27.8%) and menthone (6.9%). Comparison of this oil with other studied oils of different populations is discussed. The oil showed good antibacterial and antifungal activities against some microorganisms that infest historical art works.
Prenylated Flavonoids from the Roots of Tephrosia rhodesica
2020
Five new compounds—rhodimer (1), rhodiflavan A (2), rhodiflavan B (3), rhodiflavan C (4), and rhodacarpin (5)—along with 16 known secondary metabolites, were isolated from the CH2Cl2–CH3OH (1:1) extract of the roots of Tephrosia rhodesica. They were identified by NMR spectroscopic, mass spectrometric, X-ray crystallographic, and ECD spectroscopic analyses. The crude extract and the isolated compounds 2–5, 9, 15, and 21 showed activity (100% at 10 μg and IC50 = 5–15 μM) against the chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) strain of Plasmodium falciparum. peerReviewed
Pectin: A Long-Neglected Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial.
2020
First reported in the late 1930s and first partly explained in 1970, the antibacterial activity of pectin remained almost ignored until the late 1990s. The concomitant emergence of research on natural antibacterials and on new usages of pectin polysaccharides, including those in medicine widely researched in Russia, has led to a renaissance of research in the physiological properties of this uniquely versatile polysaccharide ubiquitous in plants and fruits. Collecting scattered information, this study provides an updated overview on the subtle factors affecting the behaviour of pectin as antimicrobial. Less degraded pectin extracted via acid-free routes, we argue in the conclusions, will so…
Exact Voronoi diagram of smooth convex pseudo-circles: General predicates, and implementation for ellipses
2013
International audience; We examine the problem of computing exactly the Voronoi diagram (via the dual Delaunay graph) of a set of, possibly intersecting, smooth convex \pc in the Euclidean plane, given in parametric form. Pseudo-circles are (convex) sites, every pair of which has at most two intersecting points. The Voronoi diagram is constructed incrementally. Our first contribution is to propose robust and efficient algorithms, under the exact computation paradigm, for all required predicates, thus generalizing earlier algorithms for non-intersecting ellipses. Second, we focus on \kcn, which is the hardest predicate, and express it by a simple sparse $5\times 5$ polynomial system, which a…
Pharmacological and chemical features ofNepetaL. genus: Its importance as a therapeutic agent
2017
Medicinal plants have always had great value for the human population due to their valuable constituents and potential bioactivities. The objective of this review is to present an updated overview of an important medicinal plant genus Nepeta L., from the family Lamiaceae, revealing its traditional utilization, biological activity, phytoconstituents, and mechanisms of action. For this purpose, a literature survey was carried out by using SciFinder, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science followed by a revision of the bibliographies of the related articles. We have described and analyzed the role of plants in drug discovery and the importance of Nepeta species. Information on the ut…
CheS-Mapper - Chemical Space Mapping and Visualization in 3D
2012
Abstract Analyzing chemical datasets is a challenging task for scientific researchers in the field of chemoinformatics. It is important, yet difficult to understand the relationship between the structure of chemical compounds, their physico-chemical properties, and biological or toxic effects. To that respect, visualization tools can help to better comprehend the underlying correlations. Our recently developed 3D molecular viewer CheS-Mapper (Chemical Space Mapper) divides large datasets into clusters of similar compounds and consequently arranges them in 3D space, such that their spatial proximity reflects their similarity. The user can indirectly determine similarity, by selecting which f…
Proline-Based Allosteric Inhibitors of Zika and Dengue Virus NS2B/NS3 Proteases
2019
The NS2B/NS3 serine proteases of the Zika and Dengue flaviviruses are attractive targets for the development of antiviral drugs. We report the synthesis and evaluation of a new, proline-based compound class that displays allosteric inhibition of both proteases. The structural features relevant for protease binding and inhibition were determined to establish them as new lead compounds for flaviviral inhibitors. Based on our structure-activity relationship studies, the molecules were further optimized, leading to inhibitors with submicromolar IC50 values and improved lipophilic ligand efficiency. The allosteric binding site in the proteases was probed using mutagenesis and covalent modificati…
Multi-output Model with Box-Jenkins Operators of Quadratic Indices for Prediction of Malaria and Cancer Inhibitors Targeting Ubiquitin- Proteasome Pa…
2016
The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) is the primary degradation system of short-lived regulatory proteins. Cellular processes such as the cell cycle, signal transduction, gene expression, DNA repair and apoptosis are regulated by this UPP and dysfunctions in this system have important implications in the development of cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiac and other human pathologies. UPP seems also to be very important in the function of eukaryote cells of the human parasites like Plasmodium falciparum, the causal agent of the neglected disease Malaria. Hence, the UPP could be considered as an attractive target for the development of compounds with Anti-Malarial or Anti-cancer properties. R…