Search results for "Therapeutics"
showing 10 items of 489 documents
Beneficial Role of Exercise in the Modulation of
2021
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive progressive lethal disorder caused by the lack of dystrophin, which determines myofibers mechanical instability, oxidative stress, inflammation, and susceptibility to contraction-induced injuries. Unfortunately, at present, there is no efficient therapy for DMD. Beyond several promising gene- and stem cells-based strategies under investigation, physical activity may represent a valid noninvasive therapeutic approach to slow down the progression of the pathology. However, ethical issues, the limited number of studies in humans and the lack of consistency of the investigated training interventions generate loss of consensus regarding …
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of a 13-mer LNA-inhibitor-miR-221 in Mice and Non-human Primates
2016
Locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides have been successfully used to efficiently inhibit endogenous small noncoding RNAs in vitro and in vivo. We previously demonstrated that the direct miR-221 inhibition by the novel 13-mer LNA-i-miR-221 induces significant antimyeloma activity and upregulates canonical miR-221 targets in vitro and in vivo. To evaluate the LNA-i-miR-221 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, novel assays for oligonucleotides quantification in NOD.SCID mice and Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) plasma, urine and tissues were developed. To this aim, a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method, after solid-phase extraction, was used for the detection of LNA-i…
Protective and regenerative effects of a novel medical device against esophageal mucosal damage using in vitro and ex vivo models.
2020
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common digestive disorder that causes esophagitis and injuries to the esophageal mucosa. GERD symptoms are recurrent during pregnancy and their treatment is focused on lifestyle changes and nonprescription medicines. The aim of this study was to characterize the mechanism of action of a new patented medical device, an oral formulation containing hyaluronic acid, rice extract, and amino acids dispersed in a bioadhesive polymer matrix, by assessing its protective effects in in vitro and ex vivo models of esophageal mucosa damage. Acidic bile salts and pepsin cocktail (BSC) added to CP-A and COLO-680 N esophagus cells were used as an in vitro GERD mo…
ADAM10 in Alzheimer's disease: Pharmacological modulation by natural compounds and its role as a peripheral marker.
2019
Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents a global burden in the economics of healthcare systems. Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are formed by amyloid-β precursor protein (AβPP) cleavage, which can be processed by two pathways. The cleavage by the α-secretase A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease 10 (ADAM10) releases the soluble portion (sAβPPα) and prevents senile plaques. This pathway remains largely unknown and ignored, mainly regarding pharmacological approaches that may act via different signaling cascades and thus stimulate non-amyloidogenic cleavage through ADAM10. This review emphasizes the effects of natural compounds on ADAM10 modulation, which eventuates in a neuroprotective mechanism. M…
Annexin A2-Mediated Plasminogen Activation in Endothelial Cells Contributes to the Proangiogenic Effect of Adenosine A2A Receptors
2021
Adenosine A2A receptor mediates the promotion of wound healing and revascularization of injured tissue, in healthy and animals with impaired wound healing, through a mechanism depending upon tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a component of the fibrinolytic system. In order to evaluate the contribution of plasmin generation in the proangiogenic effect of adenosine A2A receptor activation, we determined the expression and secretion of t-PA, urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and annexin A2 by human dermal microvascular endothelial cells stimulated by the selective agonist CGS-21680. The plasmin generation was assayed through an enzymatic assay a…
Increased Motor-Impairing Effects of the Neuroactive Steroid Pregnanolone in Mice with Targeted Inactivation of the GABAA Receptor γ2 Subunit in the …
2016
Endogenous neurosteroids and neuroactive steroids have potent and widespread actions on the brain via inhibitory GABAA receptors. In recombinant receptors and genetic mouse models their actions depend on the α, β, and δ subunits of the receptor, especially on those that form extrasynaptic GABAA receptors responsible for non-synaptic (tonic) inhibition, but they also act on synaptically enriched γ2 subunit-containing receptors and even on αβ binary receptors. Here we tested whether behavioral sensitivity to the neuroactive steroid agonist 5β-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one is altered in genetically engineered mouse models that have deficient GABAA receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition in selected neuro…
Apoptosis induced by a HIPK2 full-length-specific siRNA is due to off-target effects rather than prevalence of HIPK2-Δe8 isoform
2017
Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are widely used to study gene function and extensively exploited for their potential therapeutic applications. HIPK2 is an evolutionary conserved kinase that binds and phosphorylates several proteins directly or indirectly related to apoptosis. Recently, an alternatively spliced isoform skipping 81 nucleotides of exon 8 (Hipk2-Δe8) has been described. Selective depletion of Hipk2 full-length (Hipk2-FL) with a specific siRNA that spares the Hipk2-Δe8 isoform has been shown to strongly induce apoptosis, suggesting an unpredicted dominant-negative effect of Hipk2-FL over the Δe8 isoform. From this observation, we sought to take advantage and assessed the therape…
Artemisinin Derivatives Target Topoisomerase 1 and Cause DNA Damage in Silico and in Vitro
2017
DNA topoisomerases 1 and 2 are enzymes that maintain DNA topology and play important essential genome functions, including DNA replication and transcription. Aberrant topoisomerases cause genome instability and a wide range of diseases, cancer in particular. Both Topo 1 and 2 are the targets of valuable anticancer drugs, such as camptothecin. It has been previously shown that artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone from Artemisia annua L. also known as qinghaosu, possesses anti-cancer effects and one of its derivatives, artesunate inhibits Topo 2. In this study, we evaluated artemisinin and 40 derivatives as potential Topo 1 inhibitors at first by in silico molecular docking analyses. Five com…
Hepatoprotective Effect of Steroidal Glycosides From Dioscorea villosa on Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Hepatotoxicity in HepG2 Cells
2018
Dioscorea villosa, commonly known as “Wild Yam” and native to North America, is well documented for its pharmacological properties due to the presence of steroidal glycosides. However, the hepatoprotective potential of these compounds has not been studied so far. The present investigation was aimed to study the hepatoprotective effect of the steroidal glycosides from D. villosa against H2O2, a known hepatotoxin, in human liver cell line (HepG2). Cytotoxicity assessment was carried out in cells exposed to various concentrations (10–50 μM) of compounds for 24 h using MTT assay and morphological changes. All tested compounds were known and among them, spirostans (zingiberensis saponin I, diosc…
Molecular docking-based virtual drug screening revealing an oxofluorenyl benzamide and a bromonaphthalene sulfonamido hydroxybenzoic acid as HDAC6 in…
2020
HDAC6 is a crucial epigenetic modifier that plays a vital role in tumor progression and carcinogenesis due to its multiple biological functions. It is a unique member of class-II HDAC enzymes. It possesses two catalytic domains, which function independently of the overall enzyme activity. Up to date, there are only a few selective HDAC6 inhibitors with anti-cancer activity. In this study, 175,204 ligands obtained from the ZINC15 and OTAVAchemical databases were used for virtual drug screening against HDAC6. Molecular docking studies were performed for 100 selected compounds. Furthermore, the top 10 compounds obtained from docking were tested for their efficacy to inhibit the function of HDA…