As actinobactérias são uma reconhecida fonte de metabólitos secundários bioativos com grande diversidade estrutural e funcional. Dentre elas, o gênero Streptomyces é sem dúvida o mais explorado, correspondendo a cerca de 75% dos metabólitos secundários estudados, e por dois terços dos antibióticos conhecidos. Dessa forma, ainda é crescente a necessidade de novos herbicidas com perfil de baixa toxicidade ambiental e novos mecanismos de ação, para a substituição de produtos que são utilizados extensivamente há anos. Grandes avanços tecnológicos têm sido alcançados em termos de instrumentação analítica nas últimas décadas, tornando a espectrometria de massas a técnica mais eficiente e robusta na identificação de metabólitos secundários, principalmente quando acoplada a técnicas cromatográficas de ultra eficiência (UHPLC-MS). Nessa dissertação foi explorada a diversidade metabólica de actinobactérias isoladas do bioma Caatinga para a identificação de metabólitos secundários com atividade fitotóxica. Foram produzidos 166 extratos brutos de actinobactérias, das quais, 27 apresentaram algum nível de atividade fitotóxica contra Lemna minor. Devido pronunciada bioatividade (MIC = 6,25 ?g) o extrato bruto da actinobactéria, CAAT 7-52, foi selecionado para desreplicação, caracterização e fracionamento guiado por bioensaios, e, ao mesmo tempo, um estudo taxonômico foi realizado para determinar o posicionamento filogenético do novo isolado. A análise da sequência do gene 16S rRNA suportou a classificação da linhagem no gênero Streptomyces e mostrou que CAAT 7-52 formou uma linha filética distinta junto com a linhagem tipo de Streptomyces actinomycinicus, com um valor de identidade da sequência de 99,0%. No extrato bruto de CAAT 7-52 foi identificada a Albociclina como responsável pela atividade fitotóxica (MIC = 3,12 ?g), assim como alguns compostos análogos. O monitoramento da massa micelial seca e produção de Albociclina mostrou uma maior produção do composto ativo aos 21 dias de crescimento. Esse extrato foi submetido a ensaios de inibição de germinação, onde apresentou atividade contra sementes de buva (Conyza canadensis) (MIC = 12,5 ?g), alface (Lactuca sativa) e rúcula (Eruca sativa). Variações no meio de cultivo mostraram uma produção seletiva de Albociclina nos meios de cultivo PMB e Czapeck-GL. Ensaios de fitotoxicidade contra Lemna minor, utilizando o fermentado do meio PMB sem extração com solventes orgânicos, mostrou atividade em uma diluição de 20%. Portanto, foi possível demostrar através desse estudo o grande potencial das actinobactérias na produção de metabólitos secundários bioativos e da espectrometria de massas como técnica analítica na identificação dos compostos ativos. / Actinobacterias are a well know source of bioactive secondary metabolites with great structural and functional diversity. Among them, the Streptomyces genus is certainly the most explored, corresponding to about 75% of studied secondary metabolites, and for two thirds of known antibiotics. Thus, there is still a growing need for new herbicides with low environmental toxicity e new modes of action, for the replacement of products that have been broadly used for years. Great technological progress has been achieved in analytical instrumentation in the last few decades, making mass spectrometry the most efficient and robust technique to identify secondary metabolites, mainly when accoupled to ultra-performance chromatographic techniques (UHPLC-MS). In this essay, was explored the metabolic diversity of the actinobacterias isolated from the Caatinga biome to identification of secondary metabolites with phytotoxic activity. Were produced 166 crude extracts from actinobacterias, from this, 27 showed some phytotoxic activity against Lemna minor. Due to noticeable bioactivity (MIC = 6,25 ?g) the crude extract from actinobacteria CAAT 7-52, was selected to dereplication, characterization and bioassay guided fractionation, and, at the same time, a taxonomic study was carried out to determinate the phylogenetic location of the new isolated. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence supported the lineage classification on the genus Streptomyces and established that CAAT 7-52 assembled a distinct phyletic line together with the lineage type of Streptomyces actinomycinicus, with an identity sequence value of 99,0%. In the crude extract CAAT 7-52, Albocycline was identified as the responsible for the phytotoxic activity (MIC = 3,12 ?g), so as some analogous compounds. The mycelial dry mass and Albocycline production monitoring revealed a major production of the active compound at 21 days of growth. This extract was subjected to germination inhibition assays, where revealed activity against horseweed (Conyza canadensis) (MIC = 12,5 ?g), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and arugula (Eruca sativa) seeds. Variations in the culture media showed a selective production of Albocycline in the PMB and Czapeck-GL culture media. Phytotoxicity assays against Lemna minor, applying the fermented PMB media without organic solvents extractions, revealed activity with a 20% dilution. Therefore, through this study was able to demonstrate the great potential of the actinobacterias in the production of bioactive secondary metabolites and the mass spectrometry as analytical technique to identification of the active compounds.

Não consta resumo na publicação / Abstracts not available.

Current research in natural products has heavily focused on the identification of potent biologically active compounds, specifically for drug development. The project detailed in this thesis focuses on the extraction of compounds from marine invertebrates as well as defining the absolute configuration for a compound. Utilizing marine invertebrates, the sonications method developed in this thesis provides an alternative approach to rapidly extract compounds for primary screening. This method is viable compared to a traditional overnight extraction method, without suffering compound degredation... Previously, clathric acid was isolated from an unknown Clathria sp. This compound is a bibyblic C-21 terpenoid shown to have mild antimicrobial activity against gram positive bacteria. With only its relative configuration established, additional amounts of clathric acid were required to define the overall absolute configuration. Identifying the Clathria sp. to be Clathria compressa, through spicule analysis, additional sponge tissues were then collected off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida to isolate additional quatities of clathric acid. The absolulte configuration was determined through circular dichroism and the octant rule to establish a final configuration for clathric acid's four carbon stereocenters to be: (3S, 7S, 8R, and 12S). / by Rolando Rueda de Leâon. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

by Rian J. Meginley. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader. / The gorgonian Briareum asbestinum is widely studied because it possesses highly oxygenated novel structures, many of which exhibit useful biological activities. Recently, two new briarane diterpenoids, briareolate esters J and K, together with two known briareolate esters have been isolated from a specimen of Briareum asbestinum collected off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida. The method used was a 96-well plate real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) system to discover compounds that impact human embryonic stem cell growth. The compounds were isolated using reversed phase polystyrene divinylbenzene chromatographic support HP20ss followed by normal phased HPLC using a luna silica column. The structures of the compounds were established though the interpretation of spectroscopic data. Activity testing was conducted against hESCs (BG02) with briareolate ester J showing no inhibition activity and briareolate ester K showing mild activity with an EC50 value of 25 (So(BM. These results confirm that the exact confirmation and existence of the (E,Z)-dienone is related to the activity that was observed with the previously isolated briareolate esters L and M.

Com o surgimento da era computacional com especial aplicação em química, as substâncias de origem naturais puderam ter suas informações armazenadas em bancos de dados. Desta forma, surge a oportunidade de se empregar bancos de dados de produtos naturais e de algumas ferramentas de quimioinformática como os estudos de Quantitative Structure-Retention Relationship (QSRR) para acelerar a identificação de substâncias em estudos metabolômicos. Este trabalho propôs o desenvolvimento de três estudos de QSRR, bem como a construção de um banco de dados (AsterDB) com estruturas químicas da família Asteraceae e informações a elas associadas (ex.: ocorrências botânicas e taxonômicas, atividade biológica, informações analíticas etc.) para auxiliar a desreplicação de substâncias em extratos vegetais. O primeiro estudo foi elaborado com 39 lactonas sesquiterpênicas (LST) analisadas em dois diferentes sistemas de solventes (MeOH-H2O 55:45 e MeCN-H2O 35:65), três grupos de descritores estruturais (2D-descr, 3D-1conf e 3D-weigh), dois diferentes conjuntos para treino e teste (26:13 e 29:10), quatro algoritmos para seleção de descritores (best first, linear forward - LFS, greedy stepwise e algoritmo genético - GA), três diferentes tamanhos de modelos (quatro, cinco e seis descritores) e dois métodos de modelagem (mínimos quadrados parciais - PLS e redes neurais artificiais - ANN). O segundo foi desenvolvido com 50 substâncias de diferentes classes químicas com intuito de avaliar as diferenças entre substâncias analisadas individualmente e em mistura em três diferentes equipamentos e dois métodos cromatográficos. O terceiro foi elaborado com 2.635 estruturas químicas com um teste externo comum a todos os modelos (25%, n = 656), três métodos de separação para teste e treino (partição baseada na resposta e baseada nos preditores 2D e 3D), três diferentes tamanhos de modelos selecionados por GA e dois métodos de modelagem (MLR e redes neurais feed-forward com regularização bayesiana - BRNN). O banco de dados AsterDB foi desenvolvido para ser preenchido de forma gradual e atualmente possui cerca de 2.000 estruturas químicas. O primeiro estudo de QSRR gerou bons modelos capazes de estimar o logaritmo do fator de retenção (logk) das LST com P2>0,81 para o sistema MeCN-H2O. O segundo estudo mostrou que não houve diferença estatística entre as substâncias analisadas individualmente e em mistura (p-valor>0,95) e que a correlação entre os dois métodos cromatográficos e equipamentos utilizados foi reprodutível (R>0,95). Estas análises mostraram que foi possível desenvolver modelos de QSRR para um método cromatográfico e equipamento e transpô-los para outro equipamento seguindo o uso de substâncias em comum. O terceiro estudo produziu modelos com boa capacidade de predição (P2>0,81) utilizando alta amplitude de espaço químico e rigor estatístico. Conclui-se que, estas informações podem ser utilizadas como uma plataforma piloto para análises de dados com objetivo de auxiliar na desreplicação de extratos de plantas em estudos metabolômicos / After the emergence of the computing era with special application in chemistry, all substances from natural sources might have their information stored in databases. Therefore, the opportunity arises to employ natural product databases and some chemoinformatic tools such as QSRR studies to speed up the identification of substances from metabolomic studies. This paper proposes the development of three QSRR studies as well as the building of a database (AsterDB) with chemical structures from the Asteraceae family and related information (i.e.: botanical and taxonomic occurrences, biological activity, analytical information, etc.) aiming to assist the dereplication of substances in plant extracts. The first study was carried out with 39 sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) analysed using two different solvent systems (MeOH-H2O 55:45 and MeCN-H2O 35:65), three groups of structural descriptors (2D-descr, 3D-1conf, and 3D-weigh), two different sets for training and testing (26:13 and 29:10), four algorithms for selection of descriptors (best first, LFS, greedy stepwise, and GA), three different model sizes (four, five, and six descriptors) and two modelling methods (PLS and ANN). The second study was developed with 50 compounds of different chemical classification in order to assess the differences between individual and mixed compounds analysed in three different equipments and two chromatographic methods. The third was elaborated with 2,635 chemical structures with a common external test to all models (25%, n = 656), three separation methods for testing- and training-set (based on response and on 2D and 3D predictors partitions), three different sizes of models selected by GA and two modelling methods (MLR and BrNN). The AsterDB database was developed to be populated gradually and currently, it has about 2,000 chemical structures. The first QSRR study generated good models, able to estimate the logarithm of the retention factor (logk) of STLs with P2>0.81 for the MeCN-H2O system. The second study showed that there was no statistical difference between the substances analysed individually and mixed (p-value>0.95) and the correlation between the two chromatographic methods and equipments used was reproducible (R>0.95). These analyses showed that it was possible to develop QSRR models for a chromatographic method and equipment and translate them into other equipment following the use of substances in common. The third study produced models with good predictive capacity (P2>0.81) using a high range of chemical space and statistical accuracy. In conclusion, this information can be used as a pilot platform for data analysis in order to assist in plant dereplication in metabolomics studies

Micro-organismos são profícuos produtores de produtos naturais bioativos. Diversos fármacos inovativos e de extrema importância clínica são de origem microbiana, como antibióticos, antitumorais, imunossupressores e agentes hipolipêmicos. A maioria dos fármacos de origem microbiana é produzida por actinobactérias. A estreita associação de micro-organismos com plantas, insetos, crustáceos e organismos marinhos, pode induzir a produção de substâncias bioativas, que eventualmente conferem vantagens adaptativas e ecológicas ao macro-organismo hospedeiro. Ambientes marinhos e áreas de transição como os manguezais são ainda pouco explorados para estudos químicos e farmacológicos dos micro-organismos presentes nos solos e em simbiose com outros hospedeiros. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho visou o estudo químico monitorado por ensaios de citotoxicidade em células cancerígenas de dois micro-organismos, Streptomyces sp. Act1 e Streptomyces sp. Act2, isolados da casca do caranguejo do maguezal, Ucides cordatus, coletado em Cananéia, SP. Estes micro-organismos apresentaram atividade antagônica frente ao fungo patogênico Aspergillus niger, confirmando o potencial para produção de substâncias bioativas. Os micro-organismos foram cultivados em diferentes meios de cultura para avaliar o potencial de crescimento, perfil químico dos extratos obtidos e atividade citotóxica dos extratos e subfrações. Os meios de cultura escolhidos foram meio líquido ISP-2 e meio sólido (arroz), e ainda, nestas mesmas condições foi avaliado o efeito do uso de água do mar de forma comparativa. Os micro-organismos desenvolveram-se adequadamente nos diferentes meios de cultivo. Os fracionamentos dos extratos obtidos nos experimentos evidenciaram características polares das subfrações obtidas, e neste sentido foram necessárias adaptações das técnicas de separação, incluindo fases estácionárias como sephadex LH-20 e fase reversa. Os ensaios de citotoxicidade frente às linhagens de células tumorais com os extratos obtidos mostraram o grande potencial das linhagens em estudo, em especial a linhagem Streptomyces sp. Act-2 cultivada na presença de água do mar. / Abstract Microorganisms are prolific producers of bioactive natural products. Most of innovative pharmaceuticals that have useful clinical importance have been isolated from from microorganisms, such as antibiotics, anticancer drugs, immunosuppressive drugs and lipid-lowering agents. Most of the drugs of microbial origin are produced by actinomycetes. The close association of micro-organisms with plants, insects, crustaceans or marine organisms may induce the production of bioactive substances. These natural products may confer adaptive advantages to the environment and to the host organism. Marine and transitional areas such as mangroves are still under explored for chemical and pharmacological studies of both soil microorganisms and symbiotic microorganisms. In this sense, this work aimed a chemical study of two actinobacteria strains, Streptomyces sp. Act1 and Streptomyces sp. Act2, guided by cancer cells cytotoxicity assays. Both microorganisms were isolated from the shell of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus, collected in Cananéia, SP. These microorganisms showed antagonistic activity against the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus niger, confirming the potential for production of bioactive substances. Microorganisms were cultured in different culture media to assess the potential for growth, chemical profile of extracts and cytotoxic activity of extracts and subfractions. The culture media were chosen using liquid (ISP-2) and solid medium (rice). The effect of addition of saline water in the culture media has also been evaluated. The microorganisms developed adequately in different culture media. The fractions of extracts obtained from the experiments showed characteristics of polar subfractions obtained, requiring the use of sephadex LH-20 and reverse phase as chromatographic stationary phases. Cytotoxic assays of the extracts against cancer cell lines showed the great potential of the strains under study, mainly Streptomyces sp. Act2. grown in the presence of seawater.

As espécies da família Piperaceae, Piper bowiei, P. caldense, P. carniconnectivum e P. permucronatum apresentam uma característica morfológica em comum que são os frutos pendentes e globosos. Assim, seus extratos brutos foram submetidos às análises de espectrometria de massas e ressonância magnética nuclear e os espectros obtidos submetidos às análises quimiométricas por PCA (análise de componentes principais) e HCA (análise por agrupamento hierárquico) a fim de obter uma diferenciação entre as espécies ou observar suas possíveis similaridades.Os resultados obtidos em uma análise preliminar estimularam-nos a realizar o estudo fitoquímico em busca de seus constituintes majoritários. Foram isoladas e identificadas treze substâncias, sendo quatro meroterpenos e nove flavonoides, dos quais seis são descritos pela primeira vez. Ensaios de atividade antifúngica e antitumoral foram realizados levando em consideração relatos da literatura de substâncias com estruturas similares. / The Piperaceae species Piper bowiei, P. caldense, P. carniconnectivum and P. permucronatum have pendant fruits as common morphological characteristics. Thus, their extracts were analyzed by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance and submitted to chemometric analysis by PCA (principal component analysis) and HCA (hierarchical cluster analysis) in order to get a differentiation between species and to observe their possible similarities. Based on the results obtained in a preliminary analysis the phytochemical studies were carried out on their crude extracts in order to identify their major constituents. The study allowed the identification of thirteen compounds, being four meroterpenes and nine flavonoids, six of which were described for the first time. Biological activity assays were performed taking into account the potential activities reported for similar compounds.

Neste trabalho foram reativadas 51 linhagens fúngicas isoladas a partir da ascídia Didemnum ligulum. Após a reativação, as linhagens foram cultivadas em meio de cultura líquido (250 mL), a partir dos quais foram obtidos os respectivos extratos brutos. Os extratos foram avaliados em bioensaio de atividade citotóxica, em três linhagens de células tumorais. Observou-se que 14 extratos apresentaram atividade citotóxica. Os extratos foram avaliados por HPLC-UV-MS para determinação do perfil químico. Após esta análise, a linhagem DLM2-12, identificada como Penicillium citrinum, foi selecionada para crescimento em meio de cultura líquido em quantidade suficiente para se realizar o isolamento dos metabólitos secundários do extrato de seu meio de cultura. O extrato de 250 mL do meio de cultura de P. citrinum foi submetido a diferentes métodos de separação cromatográfica. Estas separações permitiram o isolamento e identificação da citrinina (47) como sendo majoritária. Para isolamento de outros compostos presentes no extrato, a linhagem foi cultivada em maior escala (8 L) e obtido o extrato de seu meio de cultura. O novo extrato foi submetido a separações cromatográficas em gel de Sephadex LH-20, sílica gel e sílica gel derivatizada com grupo cianopropila, bem como purificações por HPLC. Estas separações permitiram o isolamento e identificação de três quinolonas, as quinolactacinas C (50) e B (53) e a quinolactacina E (51), inédita na literatura, um ácido tetrâmico, o penicilenol A (54) e duas antraquinonas, a citreoroseína (57) e a emodina (61). As antraquinonas citreoroseína (57) e emodina (61) foram submetidas aos bioensaios de atividade antiviral, antimicrobiana, Leishmanicida e citotóxica. A citreoroseína (57) apresentou atividade contra as linhagens virais BVDV, HSV1 e aMPV e apresentou atividade citotóxica ativa frente à linhagem celular HCT-116 sendo inativa frente às linhagens celulares HL-60, SF295, OVCAR-8, K562, HCT-8, MDA-MB435 e MVF-7. A emodina (61) apresentou atividade contra as linhagens virais BVDV, HSV1, aMPV e hepatite C, atividade antimicrobiana, atividade Leishmanicida, atividade citotóxica frente às linhagens celulares HL-60, HCT-116, SF295, OVCAR-8, K562 e HCT-8 sendo inativa frente às linhagens celulares MDA-MB435 e MVF-7. / The present investigation describes the isolation of secondary metabolites from the culture medium of a marine-derived strain of the fungus Penicillium citrinum. Initially, 51 fungal strains isolated from the ascidian Didemnum ligulum and preserved in stereilized sea water were re-activated in Petri dishes. After reactivation, the strains were grown in 250 mL of liquid culture medium. All media were extracted with EtOAc and, after evaporation, aliquots of the extracts were evaluated in a cytotoxicity assay on three tumor cell lines. It was observed that 14 extracts showed cytotoxic activity. These 14 extracts were analyzed by HPLC-UV-MS in order to investigate their corresponding chemical profile. As a result, the DLM2-12 strain, identified as Penicillium citrinum, was selected for semi-preparative growth in liquid culture medium in sufficient quantity to accomplish the isolation of secondary metabolites. A first growth in 250 mL of culture medium yielded an extract which was subjected to various chromatographic separations, to give citrinin (42) as the major compound. An additional growth of P. citrinum DLM2-12 in a larger volume (8 L) yielded an extract which was subjected to chromatographic separations on Sephadex LH-20, cyanopropyl-bonded silica gel, and by reversed-phase HPLC. These separations gave, after the identification of pure compounds: a) three quinolones, quinolactacins C (51) and B (54) and a new quinolactacin (52), unreported in the literature; b) the tetramic acid penicilenol A (55), and; c) two anthraquinones, citreorosein (57) and emodin (61). The anthraquinones 57 and 61 were evaluated in antiviral, antimicrobial, antileishmanial and cytotoxic assays. Citreorosein (57) displayed activity against the viral strains BVDV, HSV1 and aMPV and showed cytotoxicity against the HCT-116 cell line, being inactive against HL-60, SF295, OVCAR-8, K562, HCT-8, MDA-MB435 and MVF-7 cell lines. Emodin (61) displayed activity against the viral strains BVDV, HSV1, AMPV and hepatitis C, as well as antimicrobial, leishmanicidal, as well as cytotoxic activity against HL-60, HCT-116, SF295, OVCAR-8, K562 and HCT-8 cancer cell lines, being inactive against MDA-MB435 and MVF-7 cell lines.

As espécies da família Piperaceae, Piper bowiei, P. caldense, P. carniconnectivum e P. permucronatum apresentam uma característica morfológica em comum que são os frutos pendentes e globosos. Assim, seus extratos brutos foram submetidos às análises de espectrometria de massas e ressonância magnética nuclear e os espectros obtidos submetidos às análises quimiométricas por PCA (análise de componentes principais) e HCA (análise por agrupamento hierárquico) a fim de obter uma diferenciação entre as espécies ou observar suas possíveis similaridades.Os resultados obtidos em uma análise preliminar estimularam-nos a realizar o estudo fitoquímico em busca de seus constituintes majoritários. Foram isoladas e identificadas treze substâncias, sendo quatro meroterpenos e nove flavonoides, dos quais seis são descritos pela primeira vez. Ensaios de atividade antifúngica e antitumoral foram realizados levando em consideração relatos da literatura de substâncias com estruturas similares. / The Piperaceae species Piper bowiei, P. caldense, P. carniconnectivum and P. permucronatum have pendant fruits as common morphological characteristics. Thus, their extracts were analyzed by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance and submitted to chemometric analysis by PCA (principal component analysis) and HCA (hierarchical cluster analysis) in order to get a differentiation between species and to observe their possible similarities. Based on the results obtained in a preliminary analysis the phytochemical studies were carried out on their crude extracts in order to identify their major constituents. The study allowed the identification of thirteen compounds, being four meroterpenes and nine flavonoids, six of which were described for the first time. Biological activity assays were performed taking into account the potential activities reported for similar compounds.

New drugs are needed for better cancer management. Clinical trials are currently underway to assess the use of flavonoids (natural polyphenols) as anticancer agents. Among them, myricetin has been shown to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in pre-clinical cancer models. We hypothesised that myricetin-derived novel flavonoids designed to enhance this natural potential and improve on the drug-likeness limitations of myricetin might have increased potential for their application in the management of breast and ovarian cancer. The effect of a library of novel flavonoids was screened on 3 panels of breast and ovarian cancer cell lines, representing different molecular subtypes and phenotypes, to assess their potency. The second-generation bi-methoxylated analogue AO-1530-OMe (Oncamex) was identified as the most effective candidate in the library, with sub-micromolar concentrations exerting a strong antiproliferative effect across almost all models studied. Results suggested that changes in the hydroxylation profile, the addition of methoxylations and a decyl alkyl chain were some of the structure-activity relationships contributing to this improved efficacy. Plate assays showed 8 h treatment with Oncamex reduced cell viability and induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis, concomitant with caspase activation and PARP cleavage. Pre-incubation with an antioxidant partially blocked these effects, suggesting the possible involvement of ROS modulation in the mechanism of action of Oncamex. Fluorescence microscopy reported the quick and stable delivery of Oncamex to the mitochondria. Fluorescent probes showed that Oncamex can induce mitochondrial superoxide production at concentrations associated with its antiproliferative effects. Study of the electrochemical properties of Oncamex by cyclic voltammetry supported this. Differential gene expression analysis following a microarray experiment showed Oncamex induces changes in the expression of genes controlling cell cycle and apoptosis. Together with previous results, the findings from this analysis led to the postulation of a model for the mechanism of action of Oncamex: due to its enhanced reactivity and mitochondrial targeting, Oncamex can generate mitochondrial superoxide, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction, membrane permeabilisation and the activation of the JNK pathway and the transcription factor FOXO3, which together contribute to the induction of intrinsic apoptosis and the inhibition of proliferation. Further proliferation assays on cell culture models also reported enhanced effect of Oncamex when administered in combination with paclitaxel and TRAIL. These improved responses were observed in breast and ovarian cancer models, including cells lines characterised by their treatment-resistant phenotype. Cotreatment with Oncamex also improved the effect of tamoxifen on anti-oestrogen resistant LCC9 breast cancer cells. Results from preliminary in vivo studies in mice implanted with the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer xenograft were consistent with an antiproliferative effect of Oncamex (25mg/kg/day) in vivo, as treatment inhibited tumour growth and reduced the expression of the marker of proliferation Ki-67 without signs of systemic toxicity. Tissues from this experiment also allowed for preliminary in vivo validation of the proposed mechanism of action of Oncamex by immunohistochemistry. The in vivo cytostatic effect of Oncamex was confirmed in a second in vivo experiment, which also investigated the effect of Oncamex at higher doses or in combination with paclitaxel. In conclusion, the novel flavonoid Oncamex has shown a promising antiproliferative effect in pre-clinical models of breast and ovarian cancer, including models of treatment-resistant cancers. Preliminary in vivo studies have demonstrated a partial recapitulation of the effect of Oncamex. A mechanistic model has been proposed by which Oncamex induces intrinsic apoptosis through its redox reactivity and mitochondrial targeting. These results support the potential of this prototypic candidate, although possible work in the structure and formulation of this candidate and further study and validation of its mechanism of action is needed for its continued development as an anticancer agent.