Published in Phytochemistry Reviews
Since early human history, plants have served as the most important source of medicinal natural products, and even in the “synthetic age” the majority of lead compounds for pharmaceutical development remain of plant origin. In the marine realm, algae and seagrasses were amongst the first organisms investigated by marine natural products scientists ...
Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Many tumor cells exhibit a disturbed intracellular redox state resulting in higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). As these contribute to tumor initiation and sustenance, catalytic redox agents combining significant activity with substrate specificity promise high activity and selectivity against oxidatively stressed malignant cells. We de...
Published in Molecules
Despite considerable improvements in the tolerance and efficacy of novel chemotherapeutic agents, the mortality of hematological malignancies is still high due to therapy relapse, which is associated with bad prognosis. Dietary polyphenolic compounds are of growing interest as an alternative approach, especially in cancer treatment, as they have be...
Published in Annals of Oncology
Inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), among others, play a major role in the pathophysiology of anemia in the cancer patient not only through complex mechanisms of the purely inflammatory situation but also through genetic regulatory aspects of erythropoiesis via GATA-1 and GATA-2, and other factor...
Published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
A series of 18 heterocyclic cyclohexanone analogues of curcumin have been synthesised and screened for their activity in both adherent and non-adherent cancer cell models. Cytotoxicity towards MBA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, as well as ability to inhibit NF-kappaB transactivation in non-adherent K562 leukemia cells were investigated. Three of these...
Published in International Journal of Cell Biology
Ca(2+) is an important second messenger participating in many cellular activities; when physicochemical insults deregulate its delicate homeostasis, it acts as an intrinsic stressor, producing/increasing cell damage. Damage elicits both repair and death responses; intriguingly, in those responses Ca(2+) also participates as second messenger. This d...
Published in Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry
Dermacoccus abyssi sp. nov., strains MT1.1 and MT1.2 are actinomycetes isolated from Mariana Trench sediment at a depth of 10 898 m. Fermentation using ISP2 and 410 media, respectively, lead to production of seven new oxidized and reduced phenazine-type pigments, dermacozines A-G (1-7), together with the known phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (8) and ph...
Published in Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology
Valproic acid (VPA), a branched short-chain fatty acid, is widely used as an antiepileptic drug and a mood stabilizer. Antiepileptic properties have been attributed to inhibition of Gamma Amino Butyrate (GABA) transaminobutyrate and of ion channels. VPA was recently classified among the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors, acting directly at the level o...
Published in Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling
Following the tradition since 1998, the “Inflammation 2010” meeting was organized again in Luxembourg and gathered more than 550 scientists and exhibitors. The gorgeous, brand-new Conference Centre Kirchberg opened its doors for the first time to honor the guests of the “Inflammation 2010” meeting. Besides the enthusiastic talks and discussions, mo...
Published in Biochemical Pharmacology
In this study, we investigated the biological effects of heteronemin, a marine sesterterpene isolated from the sponge Hyrtios sp. on chronic myelogenous leukemia cells. To gain further insight into the molecular mechanisms triggered by this compound, we initially performed DNA microarray profiling and determined which genes respond to heteronemin s...
