A University of Texas at Dallas chemist and his colleagues have developed a new chemical reaction that will allow researchers to synthesize selectively the left-handed or right-handed versions of 'mirror molecules' found in nature and assess them for potential use against cancer, infection, depression, inflammation and a host of other conditions.
University of Texas at Dallas Oct 10 2024 A University of Texas at Dallas chemist and his colleagues have developed a new chemical reaction that will allow researchers to synthesize selectively the left-handed or right-handed versions of "mirror molecules" found in nature and assess them for potential use against cancer, infection, depression, inflammation and a host of other conditions.
Adding a prenyl group is the way nature assembles these molecules, but it has been challenging for scientists to replicate this successfully." Naturally occurring compounds are a significant source of potential new medicines, but because they often occur only in minute quantities, scientists and pharmaceutical companies must develop methods to synthesize larger amounts to test in the lab or to manufacture into drugs.
The researchers developed their method as part of an effort to synthesize polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols , which are a class of more than 400 natural products with a broad spectrum of bioactivity, including combatting cancer, HIV, Alzheimer's disease, depression, epilepsy and obesity. Romiti and his colleagues tested their nemorosonol enantiomer against lung and breast cancer cell lines provided by Dr. John Minna, director of the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
The study results could impact drug discovery and translational medicine in several ways. In addition to informing scalable and more efficient drug-manufacturing processes, the findings will enable researchers to make more efficiently natural product analogs, which are optimized versions of the natural product that are more potent or selective in how they work in the body.
Cancer Cell Chemical Reaction Depression Inflammation Medicinal Chemistry OCT Research
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center launches new journal on cancer educationThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced its first-ever academic journal, Advances in Cancer Education & Quality Improvement (ACE-QI). The journal will publish research, training program summaries and quality improvement interventions for the oncology provider community.
Read more »
Jacob Fearnley: How British tennis star rose from Texas Christian University to ATP Tour top 100Little over a year ago, Jacob Fearnley was unranked in the professional tennis world. Now he is among the top 100 after one of the fastest climbs in ATP history.
Read more »
University narrowly misses out on prestigious UK-wide awardThe University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University are not amongst the winners this year
Read more »
Nottingham Universities Miss Out on Top Spots in The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have both fallen short of winning top awards in The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025. While the University of Nottingham dropped to fifth place among Midlands institutions, NTU rose to seventh and came runner-up for Modern University of the Year.
Read more »
Brain-inspired materials pave the way for efficient computingA team of researchers from Texas A&M University, Sandia National Lab - Livermore, and Stanford University are taking lessons from the brain to design materials for more efficient computing.
Read more »
Glasgow universities named top 5 in prestigious Times and Sunday Times GuideLast year, Glasgow University was crowned Scottish University of the Year, however this year the University of St Andrews has taken first place in the prestigious ranking.
Read more »