Ricerc@Sapienza

Nature's gifts have been used by mankind since ancient times, from the Amazon poisons used by natives up to more modern phytochemical based drugs. The use of medicinal plants represents a good source of novel natural therapeutic drugs and for the improvement of pharmacophore moieties in medicinal chemistry. Pharmacologically active substances can be obtained from natural sources such as plants, marine organisms and insects. Indeed, common intermediates coming from the metabolism of distant kingdoms often show a wider variety of biological activities also thanks to the ability to interact and ¿communicate¿ with different biological systems. An example is represented by iridoids, a central bridge between plant and animal kingdom. These compounds, synthesized both in plants and insects, are a key tool for intra-species and inter-kingdom communication and their functions and biological activities are strongly connected. Another biochemical bridging point between two distant worlds such as terrestrial and marine organisms is represented by sulfur-containing compounds. This project is aimed to identify and characterize key intermediates of the organic sulfur metabolism and unique sulfur biological compounds obtained by prokaryotes, plant and animal kingdoms with potential therapeutic activity. A metabolomics-based approach coupled with advanced analytical methods, i.e. chromatographic, spectroscopic and spectrometric methods, will be performed. In-vitro and in-vivo experiments in different biological models will be performed for the evaluation of the role of sulfur-containing compounds in physiological and pathological conditions. Sulfur metabolism will be furthermore investigated in terrestrial and marine organisms in relation to nitrogen and carbon (e.g. amines, amino acids and keto acids) in order to provide a more complete scenario and shed light on sulfur biochemical cycle