The research carried out in nanoBIC lies in the areas of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Great efforts have been/are dedicated to these two fields of investigations; hence, two very important approaches/innovations recently developed by the group for these two topics can be highlighted.
– Cancer: photoactivatable compounds are receiving increasing attention in anticancer drug design. The BIC group has developed a new approach to generate photoswitchable metal complexes whose biological activity can be changed through the photomodification of the ligand. The pioneering results achieved were published in Angewandte Chemie (2015, 54, 4561-4565) and Inorganic Chemistry (2016, 55, 5356-5364 and 2018, 57, 4009-4022). The Angewandte paper was highlighted by an Associate Editor of ACS Chemical Biology (2015, 10, 911-913).
– Alzheimer’s disease: amyloid-β is a peptide involved in AD that leads both to oxidative stress and to the formation of senile plaques. The BIC team is designing and producing tri- and tetrapeptides that show (i) anti-aggregation properties (thus impeding the formation of amyloid-β fibrils) and (ii) strong copper-binding properties, hence blocking its redox behaviour and therefore the generation of harmful oxidative species; the significant results obtained were published in Chemistry: A European Journal (2016, 22, 7268-7280 and 2018, 24, 5153-5162).
The BIC group is currently using Fe3O4 and Au nanoparticles as nanocarriers and drug-releasing systems for the biologically active compounds described above.
Amparo Caubet Marín (Associate Professor)
Ana Belén Caballero Hernández (Associate Professor) ana.caballero(at)ub.edu
Carlos Moya Alvarez (Beatriu de Pinós Postdoctoral Researcher)
Piedad Herrera Ramírez (Predoctoral Researcher)
Guglielmo Spinelli (Predoctoral Researcher)
Cytotoxicity of osmium(ii) and cycloosmated half-sandwich complexes from 1-pyrenyl-containing phosphane ligands. Josa D.; Aguilà D.; Fontova P.; Soto-Cerrato V.; Herrera-Ramírez P.; Rafols L.; Grabulosa A.; Gamez P. 2023. Dalton Transactions, 52, 24. Doi: 10.1039/d3dt00743j
Steric hindrance, ligand ejection and associated photocytotoxic properties of ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes. Herrera-Ramírez P.; Berger S.A.; Josa D.; Aguilà D.; Caballero A.B.; Fontova P.; Soto-Cerrato V.; Martínez M.; Gamez P. 2023 , Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 28, 4. Doi: 10.1007/s00775-023-01998-z
Cobalt(III)-py2en systems as potential carriers of β-ketoester-based ligands. Palmeira-Mello M.V.; Caballero A.B.; Herrera-Ramírez P.; Costa A.R.; Santana S.S.; Guedes G.P.; Caubet A.; Batista A.A.; Gamez P.; Lanznaster M. 2023, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 248, 112345. Doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2023.112345
Anti-toxoplasma activity and DNA-binding of copper(II) and zinc(II) coordination compounds with 5-nitroimidazole-based ligands. Navarro-Peñaloza R.; Anacleto-Santos J.; Rivera-Fernández N.; Sánchez-Bartez F.; Gracia-Mora I.; Caballero A.B.; Gamez P.; Barba-Behrens N. 2023, Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Doi: 10.1007/s00775-023-02029-7
Three to Tango: Inhibitory Effect of Quercetin and Apigenin on Acetylcholinesterase, Amyloid-β Aggregation and Acetylcholinesterase-Amyloid Interaction. I. Álvarez-Berbel, A. Espargaró, A. Viayna, A.B. Caballero, M.A. Busquets, P. Gámez, F.J. Luque and R. Sabaté. Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(11), 2342
Anti-Amyloid Drug Screening Methods Using Bacterial Inclusion Bodies. Caballero, A.B.,
Gamez, P., Sabate, R., Espargaró, A. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2538, 2022
Nanochaperone-Based Strategies to Control Protein Aggregation Linked to Conformational Diseases. Caballero A.B., Gamez P. Angewandte Chemie – International Edition. 2021, 60, 1
Dual Effect of Prussian Blue Nanoparticles on Aβ40 Aggregation: β-Sheet Fibril Reduction and Copper Dyshomeostasis Regulation. Kowalczyk J., Grapsi E., Espargaró A., Caballero A.B., Juárez-Jiménez J., Busquets M.A., Gamez P., Sabate R., Estelrich J. Biomacromolecules, 2021, 22, 2
DNA-interacting properties of two analogous square-planar cis-chlorido complexes: copper versus palladium. Palmeira-Mello M.V., Caballero A.B., Lopez-Espinar A., Guedes G.P., Caubet A., de Souza A.M.T., Lanznaster M., Gamez P. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. 2021, 26, 6
Piano-Stool Ruthenium(II) Complexes with Delayed Cytotoxic Activity: Origin of the Lag Time. Rafols L., Josa D., Aguilà D., Barrios L.A., Roubeau O., Cirera J., Soto-Cerrato V., Pérez-Tomás R., Martínez M., Grabulosa A., Gamez P. Inorganic Chemistry. 2021, 60, 11
Nanochaperone‐Based Strategies to Control Protein Aggregation Linked to Conformational Diseases. Caballero, A.B., Gamez, P. Angewandte Chemie. 2020, 132, 2-14
Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives as Inhibitors of Amyloid-β Aggregation: Effect of Metal Coordination. Matesanz A.I., Caballero A.B., Lorenzo C., Espargaró A., Sabaté R., Quiroga A.G., Gamez P. Inorganic Chemistry. 2020, 59(10)
Peptidic Scaffolds to Reduce the Interaction of Cu(II) Ions with β-Amyloid Protein. Caballero A.B., Iranzo O., Hautier A., Sabaté R., Gamez P. Inorganic Chemistry. 2020, 59(1)
Fotosensibilizadores multifuncionales de rutenio(II) para fotoquimioterapia (PID2020-115537RB-I00). IP1: Patrick Gamez Enamorado/IP2: Ana Belén Caballero Hernández. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. (2021-2025)
Nanocarriers for drug delivery through thermal release. CTQ2017-88446-R. IP1: Gamez, Patrick. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain. (2018 –2020)
Horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis (analysis of oligo- and polynucleotides)
Microplate reader (aggregation studies of amyloids)
Compact xenon light source (photochemistry/photoactivation of drugs)
• Prof. Noráh Barba-Behrens (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
• Prof. Brian J. Frost (University of Nevada, Reno, USA)
• Dr Olga Iranzo (Institut des Sciences Moléculaires de Marseille, France)
• Prof. Noráh Barba-Behrens (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
• Prof. Brian J. Frost (University of Nevada, Reno, USA)
• Dr Olga Iranzo (Institut des Sciences Moléculaires de Marseille, France)