Siena Biotech (Italy)

Modulating membrane permeability and morphology remains a central challenge in the design of responsive colloidal and self-assembled systems. Here, we present a strategy that integrates fluorescently labelled, photoswitchable amphiphiles into lipid vesicles to enable real-time visualization of dynamic membrane behavior and light-triggered cargo release. A novel amphiphilic molecule based on an azobenzene core was synthesized and functionalized with the fluorophore Nile red. This compound was incorporated into giant and large unilamellar vesicles (GUVs and LUVs) composed primarily of POPC (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) lipids. The response of the vesicles to alternating UV and visible light was characterized using confocal microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations. Upon irradiation, vesicles exhibited reversible morphological transformations including budding, swelling, and prolate deformation. Fluorescence imaging confirmed efficient incorporation of the amphiphiles into lipid membranes, and the solvatochromic behavior of Nile red enabled distinction between lipid domains. Simulations revealed that Z-isomerization induces asymmetric expansion of the outer membrane leaflet, increasing surface tension and bending modulus, key drivers of the observed shape changes. Furthermore, cargo release assays with LUVs demonstrated controlled, reversible light-induced permeability. The temporal mismatch between morphological response and ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation, along with the reversibility of the effects, supports a non-oxidative, photomechanical mechanism. Based on these findings, fluorescent photoswitchable amphiphiles can be considered as powerful tools for both functional membrane engineering and the study of the relationship between molecular-level interactions, polarity, and macroscale membrane behavior.

To evaluate: (1) the distribution of gray matter (GM) atrophy in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4+NMOSD), and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); and (2) the relationship between GM volumes and white matter lesions in various brain regions within each disease. A retrospective, multicenter analysis of magnetic resonance imaging data included patients with MOGAD/AQP4+NMOSD/RRMS in non-acute disease stage. Voxel-wise analyses and general linear models were used to evaluate the relevance of regional GM atrophy. For significant results (p < 0.05), volumes of atrophic areas are reported. We studied 135 MOGAD patients, 135 AQP4+NMOSD, 175 RRMS, and 144 healthy controls (HC). Compared with HC, MOGAD showed lower GM volumes in the temporal lobes, deep GM, insula, and cingulate cortex (75.79 cm3); AQP4+NMOSD in the occipital cortex (32.83 cm3); and RRMS diffusely in the GM (260.61 cm3). MOGAD showed more pronounced temporal cortex atrophy than RRMS (6.71 cm3), whereas AQP4+NMOSD displayed greater occipital cortex atrophy than RRMS (19.82 cm3). RRMS demonstrated more pronounced deep GM atrophy in comparison with MOGAD (27.90 cm3) and AQP4+NMOSD (47.04 cm3). In MOGAD, higher periventricular and cortical/juxtacortical lesions were linked to reduced temporal cortex, deep GM, and insula volumes. In RRMS, the diffuse GM atrophy was associated with lesions in all locations. AQP4+NMOSD showed no lesion/GM volume correlation. GM atrophy is more widespread in RRMS compared with the other two conditions. MOGAD primarily affects the temporal cortex, whereas AQP4+NMOSD mainly involves the occipital cortex. In MOGAD and RRMS, lesion-related tract degeneration is associated with atrophy, but this link is absent in AQP4+NMOSD. ANN NEUROL 2024;96:276-288.

In this work we present BIANCA‐MS, a novel tool for brain white matter lesion segmentation in multiple sclerosis (MS), able to generalize across both the wide spectrum of MRI acquisition protocols and the heterogeneity of manually labeled data. BIANCA‐MS is based on the original version of BIANCA and implements two innovative elements: a harmonized setting, tested under different MRI protocols, which avoids the need to further tune algorithm parameters to each dataset; and a cleaning step developed to improve consistency in automated and manual segmentations, thus reducing unwanted variability in output segmentations and validation data. BIANCA‐MS was tested on three datasets, acquired with different MRI protocols. First, we compared BIANCA‐MS to other widely used tools. Second, we tested how BIANCA‐MS performs in separate datasets. Finally, we evaluated BIANCA‐MS performance on a pooled dataset where all MRI data were merged. We calculated the overlap using the DICE spatial similarity index (SI) as well as the number of false positive/negative clusters (nFPC/nFNC) in comparison to the manual masks processed with the cleaning step. BIANCA‐MS clearly outperformed other available tools in both high‐ and low‐resolution images and provided comparable performance across different scanning protocols, sets of modalities and image resolutions. BIANCA‐MS performance on the pooled dataset (SI: 0.72 ± 0.25, nFPC: 13 ± 11, nFNC: 4 ± 8) were comparable to those achieved on each individual dataset (median across datasets SI: 0.72 ± 0.28, nFPC: 14 ± 11, nFNC: 4 ± 8). Our findings suggest that BIANCA‐MS is a robust and accurate approach for automated MS lesion segmentation.

The rise of antimicrobial-resistant phenotypes and the spread of the global pandemic of COVID-19 are worsening the outcomes of hospitalized patients for invasive fungal infections. Among them, candidiases are seriously worrying, especially since the currently available drug armamentarium is extremely limited. We recently reported a new class of macrocyclic amidinoureas bearing a guanidino tail as promising antifungal agents. Herein, we present the design and synthesis of a focused library of seven derivatives of macrocyclic amidinoureas, bearing a second phenyl ring fused with the core. Biological activity evaluation shows an interesting antifungal profile for some compounds, resulting to be active on a large panel of Candida spp. and C. neoformans. PAMPA experiments for representative compounds of the series revealed a low passive diffusion, suggesting a membrane-based mechanism of action or the involvement of active transport systems. Also, compounds were found not toxic at high concentrations, as assessed through MTT assays.Graphical abstractSupplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11030-022-10388-7.

The aim of this study was the preclinical development of a set of pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine structure-based small molecules ATP-competitive SRC inhibitors for the therapy of glioblastoma (GBM), a rare but extremely aggressive and infiltrative glial tumor with a very limited response to therapies. Ongoing preclinical and clinical studies of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for the therapy of GBM identified SRC family inhibitors as a significant and effective therapeutic strategy (i.e. dasatinib, bosutinib, PP2).In vitro Screening: From the wide in-house synthesized pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines’ library, nine compounds have been selected to be formulated and tested in in vitro and in vivo GBM pharmacological models. Among all the examined formulations, the prodrug approach has been applied to the candidate drugs, introducing the N-methylpiperazine moiety by a carbamate-based linker (in vivo enzymatically hydrolysable). Drugs and corresponding prodrugs have been screened on the basis of their SRC Ki and in vitro ADME properties. GBM U87 cell assays showed IC50 in the sub-micromolar range (1.5 - 15.0 µM) for almost all compounds and improved cellular uptake of the prodrugs in respect to the corresponding drugs.PK and Toxicity: After that, the most promising compound has been selected for further in vitro assays and in vivo tests. In vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have been evaluated for the compound by various formulations, routes of administration and dosages. In all cases investigated, the compound has been proved to reach the brain. As expected, prodrug plasmatic MRT and AUC confirmed the realization of an extended release formulation that allows a higher overall exposure to the drug. In addition, considering an estimated oral bioavailability of 40.4% and a 11-fold higher Cmax in respect to i.v. and i.p. administration, the oral route can be identified as the most advantageous for the compound for GBM treatment. Moreover, an acute toxicity study revealed that the LD50 for i.v. toxicity is more than 100 mg/kg with a good tolerability.In vivo Efficacy Tests: The selected compound and its prodrug were orally administered in GBM orthotopic mouse model and results indicated a median survival rate 10% greater for prodrug-treated mice in respect to drug-treated mice and 35% greater in respect to control group. The combination effect of the compound and radiotherapy was also investigated in subcutaneous U87 xenografted mice model and resulted in a reduction of the tumor growth close to 80% in respect to the control growth.Conclusions: Taking into account all the data collected regarding their pharmacological properties, pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines SRC inhibitors class of compounds deserve further investigation to show its potential to become a new therapy for GBM.Citation Format: Arianna Mancini, Anna Lucia Fallacara, Claudio Zamperini, Giulia Iovenitti, Alessio Molinari, Enrico Rango, Adriano Angelucci, Silvia Schenone, Maurizio Botta. Preclinical development of novel pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines structure-based TKIs for the treatment of glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2201.

14-3-3 are regulatory proteins that through protein–protein interactions (PPI) with numerous binding partners could be involved in several human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and pathogens infections. Following our research interest in the development of 14-3-3 PPI inhibitors, here we exploited the privileged 4-aminoantipyrine scaffold in the design and synthesis of some derivatives endowed with antiproliferative activity against K-562 cells, and capable of binding to recombinant 14-3-3σ as evidenced by NMR spectroscopy. The binding mode was further explored by molecular modelling, while coupling confocal microscopy with intensitometric analysis showed that compound 1 was able to promote the nuclear translocation of c-Abl at low micromolar concentrations. Overall, 1 is chemically stable compared to parent 14-3-3 PPI inhibitors, and thus emerged as a confirmed hit for further development.

Nowadays, the increasing of multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria represents a serious threat to public health, and the lack of new antibiotics is becoming a global emergency. Therefore, research in antibacterial fields is urgently needed to expand the currently available arsenal of drugs. We have recently reported an alkyl-guanidine derivative (2), characterized by a symmetrical dimeric structure, as a good candidate for further developments, with a high antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. In this study, starting from its chemical scaffold, we synthesized a small library of analogues. Moreover, biological and in vitro pharmacokinetic characterizations were conducted on some selected derivatives, revealing notable properties: broad-spectrum profile, activity against resistant clinical isolates, and appreciable aqueous solubility. Interestingly, 2 seems neither to select for resistant strains nor to macroscopically alter the membranes, but further studies are required to determine the mode of action.

In the last two decades, the repertoire of clinically effective antibacterials is shrinking due to the rapidly increasing of multi-drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. New chemical classes with innovative mode of action are required to prevent a return to the pre-antibiotic era. We have recently reported the identification of a series of linear guanidine derivatives and their antibacterial properties. A batch of a promising candidate for optimization studies (compound 1) turned out to be a mixture containing two unknown species with a better biological activity than the pure compound. This serendipitous discovery led us to investigate the chemical nature of the unknown components of the mixture. Through MS analysis coupled with design and synthesis we found that the components were spontaneously generated oligomers of the original compound. Preliminary biological evaluations eventually confirmed the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of this new family of molecules. Interestingly the symmetric dimeric derivative (2) exhibited the best profile and it was selected as lead compound for further studies.