Horizon 2020 ONTOX project annual meeting (3-4 May 2022, Brussels-Belgium) summarized the first-year work since its launch on 1 May 2021. The project coordinator and scientific advisory board conveyed satisfaction with the initial results, which will serve as a solid basis for establishing new approach methodologies for testing chemicals. Centre of Experimental Medicine SAS is part of the ONTOX on behalf of the Slovak Republic.

V dňoch 3 a 4. mája sa v Bruseli uskutočnilo výročné stretnutie projektu ONTOX, financovaného zo schémy Horizont 2020. Stretnutie sa konalo za účelom rekapitulácie činností prvého roku a dosiahnutých výsledkov od spustenia projektu (1. máj 2021). Koordinátor projektu, ako aj vedecký poradný výbor, vyjadrili spokojnosť s prvotnými výsledkami. Tie budú slúžiť ako pevný základ pre stanovenie stratégií na vytvorenie nových prístupov k testovaniu chemických látok bez použitia pokusných zvierat (tzv. NAMs). Slovenskú republiku reprezentuje v projekte  Centrum experimentálnej medicíny, v. v. i. SAV.

Dňa 6.5.2022 sa predstavitelia ÚEFT CEM SAS RNDr. Mojmír Mach, PhD. a Dr. Helena Kanďárová, ERT,  zúčastnili na stretnutí organizovanom Ministerstvom obrany SR za účelom nadviazania bilaterálnych spoluprác v oblasti výskumu, vývoja a vzdelávania medzi akademickými partnermi a MO.   

On 6.5.2022, representatives of ÚEFT CEM SAS RNDr. Mojmir Mach, PhD. and Dr. Helena Kanďárová, ERT, participated in a meeting organized by the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic in order to establish bilateral cooperation in the field of research, development and education between academic partners and the Ministry of Defense.

Pozvánka na konferenciu z medicínskej chémie
Centrum experimentálnej medicíny SAV v spolupráci so Slovenskou toxikologickou spoločnosťou (SETOX) Vás pozývajú na konferenciu 12. Joint Meeting of Medicinal Chemistry, ktorá sa uskutoční v dňoch 23.-26.6.2022 v Bratislave.
Tradícia stretnutí odborníkov z medicínskej chémie začala v roku 1999 v Taliansku (Taormina). Odvtedy sa koná v dvojročných obdobiach v hostiteľskej krajine, ku ktorým v súčasnosti patrí Rakúsko, Chorvátsko, Česko, Grécko, Maďarsko, Taliansko, Poľsko, Slovinsko a v tomto roku po prvýkrát aj Slovensko.
Počas tohto ročníka si budete môcť vypočuť aktuality z výskumu zameraného na liečenie infekčných chorôb (G. Annunziato, A. Borbás), neurodegeneratívnych ochorení (U. Košak), diabetických komplikácií (M. Štefek) a ďalších.
Informácie o konferencii, ktorá sa koná aj s podporou Európskej federácie pre medicínsku chémiu a chemickú biológiu, je možné nájsť na stránke
https://www.jmmc2022.sk//
Tešíme sa na Vašu účasť!

Dear colleagues!
On behalf of the organizing committee, we are pleased to welcome you to the Xth Miniconference of PhD. students of Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences. This conference is organized by fourth-year’s PhD. students. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation, the conference will be held online this year, for the second time in its history. Authors will present their work online through the ZOOM platform with consecutive live discussions related to the topic. This Book of Abstracts contains the program and abstracts of the lectures presented at the Xth Miniconference of PhD. Students. Moreover, it is assigned with an ISBN number to enrich the publication list of all participants. We want to thank the authors for their contributions. Traditionally, the Miniconference has provided a platform, where the PhD. students can get inspiration for their scientific work and improve their presentation skills in English. We hope that this year’s event, too, will encourage young scientists to continue their hard work despite all the obstacles they may encounter during this pandemic situation.

The Organising Committee

Programme
Book of abstracts

Cemtirestat, a novel aldose reductase inhibitor and antioxidant, in multitarget pharmacology of diabetic complications

Fifteen compounds, sharing an indole-1-acetic acid moiety as a common fragment, were selected from commercial databases for testing aldose reductase inhibition. 3-Mercapto-5H-1,2,4-triazino[5,6-b]indole-5-acetic acid was the most promising inhibitor, with an IC50 in the submicromolar range and high selectivity, relative to aldehyde reductase. The crystal structure of aldose reductase complexed with cemtirestat revealed an interaction pattern explaining its high affinity. Physicochemical parameters underline the excellent “leadlikeness” of cemtirestat as a promising candidate for further structure optimizations.
DOI: 10.1021/jm5015814
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jm5015814

Influence of tiopronin, captopril and levamisole therapeutics on the oxidative degradation of hyaluronan

The results of ABTS and DPPH assays show the highest radical scavenging activity for captopril, followed by tiopronin. For levamisole, no effect was observed. Captopril and tiopronin prevented hyaluronan degradation induced by •OH radicals in a similar manner, while tiopronin was more effective in scavenging peroxy-type radicals.
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A new mechanism involved in the anti-inflammatory activity of hydroxychloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine is used in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis or lupus erythematosus. Although these diseases are often accompanied by activation of neutrophils, there are still few data relating to the impact of hydroxychloroquine on these cells. We investigated the effect of orally administered hydroxychloroquine on neutrophil oxidative burst in rats with adjuvant arthritis.
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Therapeutic potential of 3′-O-(3-chloropivaloyl)quercetin as a novel antiinflammatory drug in neurodegenerative diseases

Chronic inflammation in brain plays a critical role in major neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, stroke or multiple sclerosis. Microglia, resident macrophages and intristinc components of CNS, appear to be main effectors in this pathological process. Quercetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid, was proven to downregulate inflammatory genes in microglia. Synthetically modified quercetin, 3′-O-(3-chloropivaloyl) quercetin (CPQ), is assumed to possess better biological availability and enhanced antioxidant properties.
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