Nucleopeptidi per strategie biomediche

Responsabili di progetto

Giovanni Roviello, Marina Pirtskhalava

Accordo

GEORGIA - SRNSF - Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation

Bando

CNR/SRNSF 2012-2013

Dipartimento

Progettazione Molecolare

Area tematica

Scienze chimiche e tecnologie dei materiali

Stato del progetto

Nuovo

Proposta di ricerca

Aim of this proposal is to study peptides derivatized with DNA nucleobases, also referred as nucleopeptides (Roviello GN, et al. Amino Acids. 2010, 39:45-57), for their interesting binding properties towards biomolecules (for example proteins or nucleic acids) of medical importance. In particular, the antiviral activity of nucleobase-carrying peptides, able to inhibit some viral retrotranscriptases (Roviello GN et al. J Med Chem. 2011, 54:2095-2101; Roviello GN et al. Amino Acids. 2010, 39:795-800), is an important feature in the field of the developement of novel anti-HIV drugs to be studied in this research project. Furthermore, the ability of these hybrid molecules to strongly bind polyA tracts (Roviello GN et al. Amino Acids. 2010, 39:795-800) is another interesting point to be deeply investigated, since polyA was recently recognized as a fundamental target in anticancer strategy due to the high level of polyadenylation of RNA in cancer cells (Topalian SL et al. Mol Cell Biol. 2001,21:5614-23). In other words we also propose to investigate the antitumoral potential of nucleopeptide molecules. Apart from the synthesis and in vitro evaluation of the nucleopeptides already known in literature, it is of outstanding relevance to investigate and create models of antiviral and antitumoral activity of modified nucleopeptides.

Obiettivi della ricerca

1-elucidate the mechanisms at the basis of the properties of nucleopeptides which are of interest for new anti-HIV and antitumoral strategies;
 
2-predict the biological effects of untested molecules;
 
3-perform interaction studies on nucleopeptides and biomolecules of therapeutic importance.
 

Ultimo aggiornamento: 03/09/2025