P-glycoprotein (Pgp or ABCB1) is an ABC transporter protein involved in intestinal absorption, drug metabolism and brain penetration, and its inhibition can seriously alter a drug's bioavailability and safety. In addition, inhibitors of Pgp can be used to overcome multidrug resistance. Given this dual-purpose, reliable in silico procedures to predict Pgp inhibition are of great interest. A large and accurate literature collection yielded more than 1200 structures; a model was then constructed using various MIF-based technologies, considering pharmacophoric features and those physico-chemical properties related to membrane partitioning. High accuracy was demonstrated internally, with two different validation sets, and moreover using a number of molecules, for which Pgp inhibition was not experimentally available but was evaluated `inhouse'. All the validations confirmed the robustness of the model and its suitability to help medicinal chemists in drug discovery. The information derived from the model was rationalized as a pharmacophore for competitive Pgp inhibition.
A multidisciplinary project has led to the discovery of novel, structurally diverse, L-type calcium entry blockers (CEBs). The absolute configuration of a recently reported CEB has been determined by vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy, to assign the stereospecificity of the ligand-channel interaction. Thereafter, a virtual screening procedure was performed with the aim of identifying novel chemotypes for CEBs, starting from a database of purchasable compounds; 340,000 molecules were screened in silico in order to prioritize structures of interest for bioscreening. As a result, 20 compounds were tested in vitro, and functional and binding assays revealed several hits with promising behavior as CEBs.
The stilbene derivative resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-stilbene; RESV) has become the subject of interest of many researchers and the pharmaceutical industries due to its well-acclaimed beneficial biological activities. Although earlier research tended to focus on the effects of RESV on cardiovascular disorders, many other studies have described the beneficial effects of RESV in the areas of cancer chemoprevention and inflammation and interest of researchers on this compound is still increasing. It is now well accepted that the effect of RESV is not just due to its so called "antioxidant" activity but mainly (if not only) because of the ability of this compound to trigger cell signaling pathways and gene expression involved in cellular defense systems. Many "in vitro" studies on RESV did not take into account that although its oral absorption is about 75% it undergoes rapid metabolism and the concentration in the blood stream is almost undetectable. For this reason interest in the topical usage of RESV by cosmeceutical skin care brands has exponentially increased in the last decade reporting in general very promising results on its beneficial effect in protecting the skin from outdoor insults, but there is still some controversy on its topical usage mainly surrounding the concentration used. Therefore, more basic research on the topical application of RESV should be performed to better understand the way it prevents cutaneous damage and whether it could be recommended as a preventive skin aging agent for all skin insults.
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