Ricerc@Sapienza

Selenium-containing compounds have emerged as a potentially promising treatment for viral infections and tumor development and dissemination. Selenium per se is often considered as a toxic element with little or no beneficial effects, but considerable advances have been made in the understanding of the complex biology, chemistry and drug delivery of this element, especially when it is included in bioactive molecules. Here, we summarize and critically discuss recent findings in the field of selenium-based applications for the treatment of cancer and viral infections.

1The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is often found deregulated incancer. The aberrant accumulation of beta-catenin in the cellnucleus results in the development of various malignancies. Specific drugs against this signaling pathway for clinical treat-ments have not been approved yet. Herein we report inhibitorsof beta-catenin signaling of potential therapeutic value asanticancer agents.

Human p300 is a polyhedric transcriptional coactivator, playing a crucial role by acetylating histones on specific lysine residues. A great deal of evidences shows that p300 is involved in several diseases as leukemia, tumors and viral infection. Its involvement in pleiotropic biological roles and connections to diseases provide the rationale as to how its modulation could represent an amenable drug target.

The ability of synthetic zeolites to encapsulate and deliver the bioactive compound curcumin, which is well-known for its therapeutic effects, is investigated. Curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric, is a water-insoluble compound that has attracted great attention in recent years because of its anti-inflammatory properties and anticancer activity. In our research, we use different types of zeolites (LTA and FAU) for loading of curcumin.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is commonly used to treat several tumor types, but its severe side effects, primarily cardiotoxicity, represent a major limitation for its use in clinical settings. In this study we developed and characterized biodegradable and stable poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) submicrocarriers employing an osmosis-based patented methodology, which allowed to optimize the drug loading efficiency up to 99%.