Overview
The aim of our research is to study the medicinal chemistry of the diterpenoids, namely carnosic acid, oridonin and their derivatives, as well as triterpenoids such as celastrol, madecassic acid, and derivatives and to study the anticancer activity of these compounds.
Computer assisted drug discovery (CADD) will be used to support the development of new drugs acting on ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) with potent anticancer activity. In addition we have also been involved in studies on pharmacophore and structure-based drug discovery for the rational design of lead compounds inhibitors of BACE1 and Glutaminyl Cyclase for Alzheimer’s disease treatment.
Our research is also devoted to exploring the medicinal chemistry of the diterpenoids, namely the resin acids and their derivatives. We identify hit compounds to drive drug discovery campaigns, chemical probes to study biological processes and devise shorter, more-efficient semi-synthetic routes towards naturally occurring compounds. In addition, we exploit the potential of the diterpenoids in the development of bio-based antimicrobial surfaces.
Additional objectives are to understand in depth at the molecular level the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance, their incidence and dissemination to pave ways of fighting this huge problem of the present century, namely, to overcome resistance by investigate new therapeutic alternatives and discover novel antibacterials.
Another important topic of interest is to study neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) caused by pathogens parasites Leishmania, Trypanossoma and Giardia lamblia, to understand host-parasite interaction and to discover potential new drugs and therapeutic strategies to treat these infectious diseases.
