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The Therapeutic Potential of Naturally Occurring Compounds in Counteracting Oxidative Stress and Inflammation: From Basic Science to Therapy 2.0

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 2213

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: pharmacology; neurobiology; cell biology; biochemistry; molecular biology; pharmaceutical chemistry; medicinal chemistry; biotechnology; immunology; microfluidics; Alzheimer's; type 2 diabetes; CVD; depression; antioxidants; neuroinflammation; neurodegeneration; oxidative stress; microglia/macrophages; zebrafish; polyphenols; carnosine
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and R.N. Adams Institute for Bioanalytical Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Interests: electrochemistry; neuroscience; analytical chemistry; Alzheimer's; zebrafish; dopamine; high-performance liquid chromatography; high pressure liquid chromatography; cyclic voltammetry; spectrophotometry

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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: pharmacology; neurobiology; cell biology; microfluidics; immunology; Alzheimer's; depression; antidepressant; prenatal stress; microglia; neuroinflammation; oxidative stress; polyphenols

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The applications of naturally occurring compounds are very vast and diverse, covering many research areas, including the modulation of immunocompetent cells, drug discovery and delivery, nutrition, energy production, and environmental applications. One of the most interesting features of these molecules is that they may exert drug-like activities, although, in most cases, there are limited side effects, even when used at very high concentrations (e.g., histidine-containing peptides such as carnosine). Different naturally-occurring compounds have been studied both in vitro and in vivo, with the aim to investigate their therapeutic potential in counteracting oxidative stress and inflammation, two events involved in different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Submissions based on interdisciplinary studies involving the combination of two or more fields, such as biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, microbiology, and pharmacology are strongly encouraged. The main aim of this Special Issue is to highlight the huge potential of natural compounds and their derivates, possibly deciphering the specific cell protective pathways and/or mechanisms of action involved, modulated by these molecules.

Dr. Giuseppe Caruso
Dr. Romana Jarosova
Guest Editors

Anna Privitera
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • oxidative stress
  • inflammation
  • natural compounds
  • cell protective pathways
  • mitochodrial activity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 7332 KiB  
Article
Carnosine Counteracts the Molecular Alterations Aβ Oligomers-Induced in Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells
by Giuseppe Caruso, Claudia G. Fresta, Annamaria Fidilio, Francesca Lazzara, Nicolò Musso, Vincenzo Cardaci, Filippo Drago, Filippo Caraci and Claudio Bucolo
Molecules 2023, 28(8), 3324; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28083324 - 9 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1775
Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been described as a progressive eye disease characterized by irreversible impairment of central vision, and unfortunately, an effective treatment is still not available. It is well-known that amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide is one of the major culprits in causing [...] Read more.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been described as a progressive eye disease characterized by irreversible impairment of central vision, and unfortunately, an effective treatment is still not available. It is well-known that amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide is one of the major culprits in causing neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The extracellular accumulation of this peptide has also been found in drusen which lies under the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and represents one of the early signs of AMD pathology. Aβ aggregates, especially in the form of oligomers, are able to induce pro-oxidant (oxidative stress) and pro-inflammatory phenomena in RPE cells. ARPE-19 is a spontaneously arising human RPE cell line validated for drug discovery processes in AMD. In the present study, we employed ARPE-19 treated with Aβ oligomers, representing an in vitro model of AMD. We used a combination of methods, including ATPlite, quantitative real-time PCR, immunocytochemistry, as well as a fluorescent probe for reactive oxygen species to investigate the molecular alterations induced by Aβ oligomers. In particular, we found that Aβ exposure decreased the cell viability of ARPE-19 cells which was paralleled by increased inflammation (increased expression of pro-inflammatory mediators) and oxidative stress (increased expression of NADPH oxidase and ROS production) along with the destruction of ZO-1 tight junction protein. Once the damage was clarified, we investigated the therapeutic potential of carnosine, an endogenous dipeptide that is known to be reduced in AMD patients. Our findings demonstrate that carnosine was able to counteract most of the molecular alterations induced by the challenge of ARPE-19 with Aβ oligomers. These new findings obtained with ARPE-19 cells challenged with Aβ1-42 oligomers, along with the well-demonstrated multimodal mechanism of action of carnosine both in vitro and in vivo, able to prevent and/or counteract the dysfunctions elicited by Aβ oligomers, substantiate the neuroprotective potential of this dipeptide in the context of AMD pathology. Full article
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