Ricerc@Sapienza

The drug design is based on molecular modeling studies performed by the internal computational unit. We employ procedures for the microwave-assisted synthesis and highly automated purifications developed inside the reearch unit. We have developed reasearch projects of antiviral agents (novel classes of HIV NNRTI classes: IAS, PAS, PBTD, DAMNI), antifungal agents (analogues of bifonazole (Ph.D.

The early work of Botta group was devoted to the structural elucidation and synthesis of biological active molecules derived from plant in vivo. Since 1984, his group have been working in the field of in vitro plant tissue cultures. The general aim of the investigation was directed toward the understanding of biosynthetic pathways of the isolated metabolites and the isolation of the responsible enzymes. During this research, new plant enzymes (e.g. peroxidases) have been isolated, purified, and characterized by chemical and kinetic studies.

The research activity of FoodChemLab is mainly focused on the study of food and natural matrices carried out using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methodologies. Together with her research group, prof. Luisa Mannina has developed an analytical protocol for the determination of the metabolic profile of the investigated matrices by means of high-field NMR spectroscopy and, according to the specific problem, chemometric analysis.