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No. of bitstreams: 2 Capa da Dissertação - Marinês Rodrigues de Souza.pdf: 39412 bytes, checksum: aeb2191ebfc6c7367330efb869569732 (MD5) Dissertação - Marinês Rodrigues de Souza.pdf: 5920310 bytes, checksum: f13e692bd2b26177eaf7052ef68f6bfc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2000-08-31 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The phytochemical study of Bosimum acutifolium, Huber and Brosimum potabile, Ducke is being reported im this work. The compounds β-sitosterol and stigmasterol were identified of isolated mixtures containing both them in the two studied species and additionally from B. potabile was isolated the (-)-centrolobin as well. The later is a phytoconstituent of the diaryl-heptanoids chemical class which was characterized by spectroscopic data. The importance of thse results is due to the biological significance of the diatyl-heptanoids, and mainly because this class of compounds has not been reported in species of Brosimum genus until now. GC/MS and 1H NMR analyses of the steroids mixture have shown variations concerned to the relative amount of their constituents in different areas of one of the studied species as well as in both species. Considering the possibility of biotransformation of β-sitosterol to stigmasterol, the electronic and steric properties of β-sitosterol were calculated. Such properties were calculated as well for the Osubstitute group’s effect considering the methylated, acetylated, glycosilated and phosphorylated β-sitosterol. The calculations in this theoretical study were done evaluating electronic density, contribution of atomic to molecular orbital, frontier molecular orbital energy, interatomic distances and thermodynamic studies. From the obtained data, was possible to infer over the biotransformation mechanism of β-sitosterol to stigmasterol. On generally, it was noted a significant effect over the thermodynamic data of the Osubstitued products of β-sitosterol, as a consequence of the conformational steroidal branching. Moreover, in spite of the distance form the carbon O-C-3 and the β- sitosterol steroidal branching, was noted as well the effect of the strucuture of the Osubstitute group over the electronic and steric properties in C-22 and C-23 for its biotransformation to stigmasterol. / O estudo fitoquímico de Bosimum acutifolium, Huber e Brosimum potabile, Ducke está sendo relatado im este trabalho. Os compostos β-sitosterol e estigmasterol foram identificados isolados de misturas que contenham eles tanto nos dois espécies estudadas e, adicionalmente, a partir de B. potabile isolou-se o (-) - como centrolobin bem. A posterior é um phytoconstituent do diaril-heptanoids classe química que foi caracterizado por os dados espectroscópicos. A importância dos resultados thse é devido ao significância biológica dos diatyl-heptanoids, e principalmente porque esta classe de compostos não tem sido relatada em espécies de Brosimum género até agora. GC / MS e RMN de 1H análises da mistura de esteróides têm demonstrado variações em causa para a quantidade relativa dos seus constituintes em diferentes áreas de um dos espécies estudadas, bem como em ambas as espécies. Considerando a possibilidade de biotransformação de β-sitosterol para estigmasterol, as propriedades electrónicas e de estéricos β-sitosterol foram calculados. Estas propriedades foram calculados, bem como para o Osubstitute O efeito do grupo considerando a metilado, acetilado, e glicosilada fosforilada β-sitosterol. Os cálculos neste estudo teórico foram feitas avaliando eletrônico densidade, contribuição de atômica para orbital, fronteira molecular energia orbital molecular, as distâncias inter-atómicas e estudos termodinâmicos. A partir dos dados obtidos, foi possível inferir sobre o mecanismo de biotransformação β-sitosterol para estigmasterol. Em geral, observou-se um efeito significativo sobre os dados termodinâmicos do Osubstitued produtos de β-sitosterol, como conseqüência do esteróide conformacional ramificação. Além disso, apesar de a distância a formar OC-3 de carbono e o β- sitosterol esteróides ramificação, observou-se assim o efeito de obra A estrutura do Osubstitute grupo sobre as propriedades eletrônicas e estéricos em C-22 e C-23 para a sua biotransformação para estigmasterol.

This work reports a effective method for the preparation of a series of the new 3-alkoxy acrylamides of general formula R3HNC(O)CR1=CR2(OR), where R/ R1/ R2 = Et/H/H, Me/H/Me, -(CH2)2-/H, -(CH2)3-/H; R3 = Allyl, n-Pr, Bn, Phenetyl. However, the 3-alkoxy acrylamides where R/ R1/ R2 = Et/H/H/, Me/H/Me, R3 = Bn, have already been described in the literature. The 3-alkoxy acrylamides were obtained through three reaction steps. The first step, β-alkoxyvinyl trichloroacetyl ketones were synthesized through the acylation of enolethers using trichloroacetyl chloride as the acylating agent. In the second step, β-alkoxyvinyl trichloroacetyl ketones were converted to the corresponding β-alkoxyvinyl carboxylic acids from a basic hydrolysis using a 1 M sodium hydroxide solution. In the third step, β-alkoxyvinyl carboxylic acids were treated with thionyl chloride, using toluene as solvent, leading to the corresponding acyl chlorides intermediaries, which were not isolated. The acyl chlorides were reacted with primary amines such as allylamine, propylamine, benzylamine, and phenethylamine under basic catalysis of triethylamine, furnishing a new series of 3-alkoxy acrylamides in good yields of 48-90%. The 3-alkoxy acrylamides obtained in this study were identified by 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, Mass spectroscopy and Elemental analysis. Keywords: 3-alkoxy acrylamides, β-alkoxyvinyl carboxylic acids, β-alkoxyvinyl trichloroacetyl ketones, acyl chlorides, amines / Este trabalho apresenta um método eficiente para preparação de uma série inédita de 3-alcoxiacrilamidas de fórmula geral R3HNC(O)CR1=CR2(OR), onde R/ R1/R2 = Et/H/H, Me/H/Me, -(CH2)2-/H, -(CH2)3-/H; R3 = Alil, n-Pr, Bn, Fenetil. Sendo que as 3-alcoxiacrilamidas onde R/ R1/ R2 = Et/H/H, Me/H/Me, R3 = Bn, já foram descritas anteriormente na literatura. As 3-alcoxiacrilamidas foram obtidas através de três etapas reacionais, sendo que a primeira etapa constitui-se da acilação dos enol éteres, utilizando cloreto de tricloroacetila como agente acilante. Na segunda etapa as β-alcoxivinil tricloroacetil cetonas sintetizadas anteriormente, foram convertidas aos respectivos ácidos β-alcoxivinil carboxílicos a partir da hidrólise básica (utilizando solução de NaOH 1 M). Na terceira etapa, os ácidos β-alcoxivinil carboxílicos foram submetidos à reação com cloreto de tionila, utilizando tolueno como solvente, formando como intermediários os cloretos ácidos, os quais não foram isolados. Posteriormente, esses cloretos ácidos foram submetidos á reação de substituição nucleofílica, utilizando diferentes aminas alquílicas primárias (alilamina, propilamina, benzilamina, fenetilamina) como nucleófilo, sob catálise básica de trietilamina, promovendo assim, a síntese da série inédita das 3-alcoxiacrilamidas com bons rendimentos de 48-90%. As 3-alcoxiacrilamidas obtidas neste trabalho foram identificadas através de técnicas de Ressonância Magnética Nuclear de Hidrogênio, Ressonância Magnética Nuclear de Carbono-13, Espectrometria de Massas e Análise elementar.

Abstract Dentin forms the hard tissue portion of the dentin-pulp complex, while the dental pulp is soft connective tissue that retains the vitality of the dentin. Odontoblasts form the outermost cell layer of pulp and play a central role during dentin formation by producing and mineralizing the dentin matrix. The understanding of the defensive reactions in the dentin-pulp complex is limited. Information about the transcriptome and proteome of pulp tissue and odontoblasts would facilitate understanding of their functions during health and disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profiles of human pulp tissue and odontoblasts in vivo and in vitro using large-scale expression analysis methods. Also, the suitability of these methods in pulp biological research in vivo and in vitro was evaluated. cDNA microarray revealed only minor variation and 2-D electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry revealed no differences between healthy and carious teeth pulp tissue in vivo. The effect of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) on pulp and odontoblasts was studied in vitro using oligonucleotide-based microarrays, and marked changes in the transcriptome were revealed, especially in the expression of chemokine- and cytokine-related genes. Transiently increased interleukin expression was confirmed at the protein level by antibody array. DNA microarray analysis of native pulp tissue and odontoblasts was used to search for potential odontoblast markers. Only one gene related to extracellular matrix organization and biogenesis, matrilin 4, and two expressed sequence tags (ESTs), which represent transcribed sequences encoding possibly unknown genes, were identified in odontoblasts but not in pulp. Analysis of mature native odontoblasts and cultured odontoblast-like cells by DNA microarray revealed a high similarity (84%) between native and cultured cells. Also, differential expression levels of selected neuronal proteins were observed and confirmed at the mRNA and protein levels. In conclusion, microarray is a powerful tool for pulp biology, especially for in vitro studies. TGF-β1 was revealed as a potent regulator of proinflammatory responses in the dentin–pulp complex. In addition, several potential odontoblast markers were identified by microarray, and the similarity of cultured odontoblast-like cells used in the study with native odontoblasts was confirmed.

Abstract Multifunctional enzyme type 2 (MFE-2) catalyses the second and the third reactions in the eukaryotic peroxisomal β-oxidation cycle, which degrades fatty acids by removing a two-carbon unit per each cycle. In addition to the 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase 2 and (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities, mammalian MFE-2 has also a sterol carrier protein type 2-like (SCP-2L) domain. In contrast, yeast MFE-2 has two (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases, one 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase 2 and no SCP-2L domain. The physiological roles of yeast (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases (A and B) were tested by inactivating them in turn by site-directed mutagenesis and testing the complementation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fox-2 cells (devoid of endogenous MFE-2) with mutated variants of Sc MFE-2. Growth rates were lower for fox-2 cells expressing only a single functional domain than for those expressing the Sc MFE-2. Kinetic studies with purified Candida tropicalis MFE-2 and its mutated variants show that dehydrogenase A catalyzes the reaction more efficiently with the medium- and long-chain substrates than dehydrogenase B, which in turn is the only one active with the short chain fatty acids. The structural basis of the substrate specificity difference of these two dehydrogenases was solved by X-ray crystallography together with docking studies. Protein engineering was used to produce a stabile, homogenous recombinant protein of C. tropicalis dehydrogenases in one polypeptide. The heterodimeric structure contains the typical fold of the short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family. Docking studies suggest that dehydrogenase A binds medium chain-length substrates as bended, whereas short chain substrates are dislocated, because they do not reach the hydrophobic contacts needed for anchoring the substrate to the active site, but are instead attracted by L44. Dehydrogenase B has a more shallow binding pocket and thus locates the short chain-length substrates correctly for catalysis. Thus the data provide clues for structural basis of the different substrate specificities. The molecular basis of the patient mutations of MFE-2 (DBP deficiency) was studied using the recently solved crystal structures of rat (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, human 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase and SCP-2L. The predicted effect of the mutations on protein structure could in several cases be explained, and these data supported the conclusion that a genotype-phenotype correlation exists for DBP deficiency.

Abstract Multifunctional enzyme type 2 (MFE-2) is a peroxisomal enzyme participating in the breakdown of fatty acids in eukaryotes. Depending on the organism, MFE-2 is composed of two to four functional units, out of which the two enzymatic ones, 2-enoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) hydratase 2 and (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, are found in the all MFE-2s. These units are responsible for the catalysis of the second and third steps of the peroxisomal β-oxidation of various CoA thioesters of fatty acids and fatty acyl derivatives. Their (R)-stereospecificity and ability to accept a broad range of fatty acid CoA esters as substrates, in addition to the fact that they do not share any sequence similarity with the classical mitochondrial counterparts, make the enzymatic units of MFE-2 structurally very interesting. In this study, the three-dimensional structures of the (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase 2 units were solved by crystallographic methods. The crystal structure of the (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase unit of rat MFE-2 reveals a dimeric enzyme with an α/β short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) fold. A unique feature of (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, however, is the separate C-terminal domain, which completes the active site cavity of the adjacent monomer and extends the dimeric interactions. The 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase 2 unit is a dimer with a unique two-domain structure proposed to evolve via gene duplication. The fold consists of two side-by-side arranged repeats of the hot-dog fold motifs, thus being highly reminiscent of the tertiary structures of the (R)-specific 2-enoyl-CoA hydratase of the polyhydroxyalkanoate synthesis pathway and the β-hydroxydecanoyl thiol ester dehydrase of fatty acid synthesis type II, both from prokaryotic sources. The importance of the N-domain in the binding of bulky substrates was shown by the enzyme-product complex structure, which also indicates the active site. For the first time, it was shown that the eukaryotic hydratase 2 uses an Asp/His catalytic dyad in catalysis. Moreover, a novel catalytic mechanism was proposed for (R)-specific hydration/dehydration. The solved structures also provide a molecular basis for understanding the effects of the patient mutations of MFE-2. They also allow disussion of the possible organisation of the three units in full-length MFE-2 of mammals.

La voie de signalisation TGF-β joue un rôle biphasique durant la cancérogenèse. Mon laboratoire a identifié une nouvelle protéine inhibitrice de la voie TGF-β, WWP1. WWP1 est une E3 ubiquitine ligase qui induit la polyubiquitination et la dégradation du récepteur de type I au TGF-β. De plus, le gène WWP1 est amplifié dans une large proportion de cancers mammaires et prostatiques, suggérant que WWP1 pourrait jouer un rôle clé dans les processus de cancérogenèse liés au TGF-β. Mon projet de thèse était donc de caractériser la régulation de l’activité catalytique de WWP1 ainsi que son mécanisme d’action dans la cellule. Mes résultats montrent qu’à l’état basal, WWP1 est monoubiquitinée, son activité de polyubiquitination étant réduite par l’effet inhibiteur qu’exercent les domaines C2 et/ou WW sur son domaine HECT. En présence de substrats, la protéine WWP1 « s’ouvre » et peut alors induire la polyubiquitination et la dégradation de ses substrats. De plus, nous avons observé qu’un mutant de WWP1, détecté dans un cancer de la prostate, est incapable de s’autoréguler selon ce modèle. Il présente une plus forte activité ligase envers lui-même et ses substrats, ce qui entraîne une atténuation de la réponse cytostatique du TGF-β pouvant conférer une activité oncogénique à WWP1. De plus, nous avons identifié STARD13 comme un nouveau partenaire de WWP1. STARD13 est une protéine à activité RhoGAP, considérée comme un suppresseur de tumeur. Nous avons montré que STARD13 permet l’association de WWP1 avec la GTPase RhoA, entraînant ainsi la polyubiquitination et la dégradation de RhoA. De façon intéressante, le complexe WWP1/STARD13 est impliqué dans le remodelage de l’architecture du cytosquelette en dégradant préférentiellement la forme activée de RhoA. Ces résultats ont permis d’identifier un nouveau rôle de WWP1 qui pourrait jouer un rôle essentiel durant la migration des cellules cancéreuses lors du processus métastatique. La caractérisation de nouveaux mécanismes de régulation et d’action de WWP1 devrait permettre à terme d’identifier si WWP1 est un marqueur diagnostique dans le cancer et/ou une nouvelle cible thérapeutique pour le développement de médicaments anticancéreux. / The TGF-β pathway plays a biphasic role during cancerogenesis. My laboratory identified a new protein, WWP1, as a negative regulator of TGF-β signaling. WWP1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that triggers polyubiquitination and degradation of TGF-β type I receptor. A genomic amplification of WWP1 is found in a large portion of mammary and prostatic tumors, suggesting a key role for WWP1 during carcinogenesis related to TGF-β. My thesis project was to determine the regulation of the catalytic activity of WWP1 and a new molecular mechanism of action of WWP1 whose deregulation can be implicated in cancerogenesis. My results indicate that at steady states, WWP1 is monoubiquitinated, its polyubiquitination activity being silenced due to the inhibitory effects of C2 or/and WW domains on its Hect domain. In presence of substrates, WWP1 is « opened » and induces polyubiquitination and degradation of its substrates. Moreover, a WWP1 mutation found in prostate cancer disrupts this regulatory mechanism. It possesses an increased ligase activity towards itself and its substrates, which leads to the attenuation of TGF-β cytostatic signaling, a consequence that could conceivably confer tumorigenic properties to WWP1. We also identified STARD13 as a novel WWP1 interacting partner. STARD13 has a RhoGAP activity, and is considered as a tumor suppressor. We have shown that STARD13 mediates the association of WWP1 with the GTPase RhoA, ultimately leading to RhoA polyubiquitination and degradation. Interestingly, the WWP1/STARD13 complex is involved in the actin cytoskeleton rearrangement by preferentially targeting the active form of RhoA for degradation. These results reveal a previously unrecognized role for WWP1, which could play a key role in the migration of cancer cells during metastasis. Characterization of new regulation and action mechanisms for WWP1 should allow identifying whether WWP1 is a diagnosis biomarker in cancer and/or a new therapeutic target for the development of anticancer drugs.

Note: Portions of this abstract have been previously published in the journal Blood, Basiorka et al. Blood. 2016 Oct 13, and has been reproduced in this manuscript with permission from the publisher. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are genetically diverse hematopoietic stem cell malignancies that share a common phenotype of cytological dysplasia, ineffective hematopoiesis and aberrant myeloid lineage maturation. Apoptotic cell death potentiated by inflammatory cytokines has been considered a fundamental feature of MDS for over two decades. However, this non-inflammatory form of cell death cannot account for the inflammatory nature of these disorders. We report that a hallmark of lower-risk (LR) MDS is activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, which drives clonal expansion and pyroptosis, a caspase-1-dependent programmed cell death induced by danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) signals. Independent of genotype, MDS hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) overexpress pyroptosis-related transcripts, inflammasome proteins and manifest activated NLRP3 inflammasome complexes that direct caspase-1 activation, IL-1β and IL-18 maturation and pyroptotic cell death. Using the S100A9 transgenic (S100A9Tg) mouse model that phenocopies human MDS, we demonstrated that forced expression of S100A9 was sufficient to drive pyroptosis in vivo, implicating pyroptosis as the principal mechanism of HSPC cell death in S100A9Tg mice. The lytic cell death releases intraceullar contents that include alarmins and catalytically active ASC specks, which can propagate bystander inflammation. Notably, MDS mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and stromal-derived linages were found to predominantly undergo pyroptosis, with marked activation of caspase-1 and NLRP3 inflammasome complexes. These findings may account for the clusters of both HSPC and stromal cell death previously described in the bone marrows of patients with MDS. Mechanistically, pyroptosis is triggered by the alarmin S100A9 that is found in excess in MDS HSPC and bone marrow (BM) plasma. Further, both somatic gene mutations and S100A9-induced signaling activate NADPH oxidase (NOX), generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) that initiate cation influx, cell swelling and β-catenin activation. Accordingly, ROS and active β-catenin were significantly increased in MDS BM mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) and S100A9Tg mice compared to normal controls, as well as in human cell lines harboring gene mutations and in murine models of gene mutation knock-in or gene loss. ROS and β-catenin nuclear translocation were significantly reduced by NLRP3 or NOX inhibition, indicating that S100A9 and somatic gene mutations prime cells to undergo NOX1/4-dependent NLRP3 inflammasome assembly, pyroptosis and β-catenin activation. Together, these data explain the concurrent proliferation and inflammatory cell death characteristic of LR-MDS. Given that loss of a gene-rich area in del(5q) disease results in derepression of innate immune signaling, we hypothesized that this genetic deficit would trigger assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome complex, akin to the pathobiological mechanism characteristic of non-del(5q) MDS. To this end, we utilized two distinct murine models of del(5q) disease, namely in the context of Rps14 haploinsufficiency and concurrent loss of mDia1 and microRNA (miR)-146a. In both models, pyroptosis was not evident in the HSPC compartment; however, early erythroid progenitors displayed high fractions of pyroptotic cells. This was associated with significant increases in caspase-1 and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, ROS and nuclear localization of β-catenin, which was extinguished by inflammasome or NOX complex inhibition. These data suggest that early activation of the inflammasome drives cell death and prevents terminal maturation of erythroid precursors, accounting for the progressive anemia characteristic of del(5q) disease, whereby hematopoietic defects are primarily restricted to the erythroid compartment. Importantly, these data implicate a similar pathobiological mechanism in del(5q) MDS as is observed in non-del(5q) patients. The identification of the NLRP3 inflammasome as a pathobiological driver of the LR non-del(5q) and del(5q) MDS phenotype allows for novel therapeutic agent development. Notably, knockdown of NLRP3 or caspase-1, neutralization of S100A9, and pharmacologic inhibition of NLRP3 or NOX suppresses pyroptosis, ROS generation and nuclear β-catenin in MDS, and are sufficient to restore effective hematopoiesis. In del(5q) murine models, inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome significantly improved erythroid colony forming capacity by a mechanism distinct from that of lenalidomide, highlighting the translational potential for targeting this innate immune complex in this subset of MDS. Thus, alarmins and founder gene mutations in MDS license a common redox-sensitive inflammasome circuit, which suggests new avenues for therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, aggregated clusters of the NLRP3 adaptor protein ASC [apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase activation and recruitment domain (CARD)] are referred to as ASC specks. During pyroptosis, ASC specks are released from dying cells and function as DAMP signals that propagate inflammation. In this way, specks are a surrogate marker for NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptotic cell death. Given that pyroptosis is the predominant mechanism of cell death in MDS and ASC specks are readily quantified by flow cytometry, we hypothesized that BM or peripheral blood (PB) plasma-derived ASC specks may be a biologically rational biomarker for the diagnosis of MDS. The percentage of ASC specks were significantly increased in MDS BM plasma compared to normal, healthy donors, which was validated by confocal microscopy. PB plasma-derived ASC specks were significantly greater in LR- versus HR-MDS, consistent with the greater extent of cell death and myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) expansion in LR disease. As hyperglycemia induces NLRP3 inflammasome activation, plasma glucose levels were measured to adjust for this confounding variable. Subsequently, the percentage of glucose-adjusted, PB plasma-derived ASC specks was measured in a panel of specimens of varied hematologic malignancies. The corrected percentage of ASC specks was significantly increased in MDS compared to normal donors and to each other malignancy investigated, including other myeloid and lymphoid leukemias, myeloproliferative neoplasms and overlap syndromes, like chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). These data indicate that the glucose-adjusted ASC speck percentage is MDS-specific and may be a valuable diagnostic biomarker. At a cutoff of 0.039, the biomarker minimizes misclassification error and achieves 95% sensitivity and 82% specificity in classifying MDS from normal donors, other hematologic malignancies and T2D. Lastly, the biomarker declined with treatment response to lenalidomide in LR-MDS patients, but not to erythropoietin stimulating agent (ESA) or hypomethylating agent (HMA) therapy. As such, the percentage of ASC specks represents the first biologically rational, diagnostic biomarker for MDS that can be implemented with current diagnostic practices to reduce diagnostic error.

No description available.

Neurodegenerative diseases occur as a result of the breakdown and deterioration of the neurons of the central nervous system (CNS). They are commonly found in elderly people and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, thereby imposing severe strains on the social welfare systems. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Cholinergic deficit, senile plaque/amyloid-β peptide deposition and oxidative stress have been identified as three main pathogenic pathways which contribute to the progression of AD. The current therapeutic options cause several side-effects and have problems associated with bioavailability. Therefore, the need arises to search for new compounds from natural products with potential to treat AD. Seventeen plants were selected for this study based on their documented ethno-medicinal use in improving memory, to treat insomnia, calm agitated people, and other neurological disorders. The plants were screened for inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) using the TLC and microtiter plate method. A dose-dependent inhibition of the enzyme was observed and 4.5% of all the plants showed low (<30% inhibition) AChE inhibition. The ethyl acetate extracts of the roots of Crinum bulbispermum, Xysmalobium undulatum, Lannea schweinfurthii, Scadoxus puniceus and bulbs of Boophane disticha had the best AChE inhibition. Although the IC50 of these plant extracts were higher than that of the positive control, galanthamine (0.00053 mg/ml), they showed good AChE inhibitory activity considering they are still mixtures containing various compounds. The antioxidant activity of the plant extracts was determined by their ability to scavenge ABTS (2,2´-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl- hydrazyl) radicals. The dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) extracts of Chamaecrista mimosoides (root), Buddleja salviifolia (whole plant), Schotia brachypetala (root and bark), water extracts of Chamaecrista mimosoides (root), Buddleja salviifolia (whole plant), Schotia brachypetala (root and bark) and methanol extracts of the roots of Crinum bulbispermum, Piper capense, Terminalia sericea, Lannea schweinfurthii and Ziziphus mucronata all showed good antioxidant activity (>50%), in both assays. B. disticha contained very promising AChE inhibition and was subjected to isolation of active compounds using thin layer chromatography, column chromatography and preparative thin layer chromatography. Two compounds, 6-hydroxycrinamine (a crinine-type alkaloid) and cycloeucalenol (a cycloartane triterpene), were isolated for the first time from the bulbs of this plant. 6-Hydroxycrinamine, and two fractions, EAM 17-21 21,22 and EAE 11 (which could not be purified further due to low yield), were found to inhibit AChE with IC50 values of 0.445 ± 0.030 mM, 0.067 ± 0.005 mg/ml and 0.122 ± 0.013 mg/ml, respectively. Cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds and two active fractions was determined on human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells using the MTT and neutral red uptake assays. 6- hydroxycrinamine and fraction EAM 17-21 21,22 were found to be toxic with IC50 values of 54.5 μM and 21.5 μg/ml as determined by the MTT assay. The isolated compounds and fractions did not show any protective effect against cell death induced by Aβ25-35 possibly due to the poor antioxidant activity of B. disticha bulbs. Cytotoxicity was also determined for the methanol extracts of the roots of C. bulbispermum, T. sericea, L. schweinfurthii and Z. mucronata, as they contained promising antioxidant activity. C. bulbispermum was the most toxic, reducing cell viability by <40% at the highest concentration tested. Z. mucronata and L. schweinfurthii were the least toxic with IC50 values exceeding 100 μg/ml, the highest concentration tested. Three concentrations of the plant extracts that were not toxic, or presented low toxicity, were selected to evaluate their possible protective effect against cell death induced by Aβ25-35. Pretreatment with Z. mucronata and T. sericea roots showed a dose dependent inhibition of cell death caused by Aβ25-35. Pre-treatment with L. schweinfurthii roots resulted in an optimum dose for inhibition of Aβ25-35 induced cell death at 25 μg/ml, while still maintaining 80% viability. The roots of C. bulbispermum at non-toxic dose still maintained >50% viability. This study confirms the neuroprotective potential of some of the plants which had AChE inhibitory and antioxidant activity. In addition, four of the plants were shown to prevent cell death caused by Aβ25-35. These plants can serve as potential leads in developing drugs relevant to treatment of AD. Furthermore, two new compounds present in the bulbs of B. disticha were identified. Additional investigations need to be carried out by applying QSAR studies to modify the structure of the alkaloid with the aim of reducing its observed toxicity. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Pharmacology / unrestricted

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23468号 / 医博第4775号 / 新制||医||1053(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 竹内 理, 教授 山下 潤, 教授 戸口田 淳也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM