Amphiphilic calix[4]arenes were designed as phospholipid mimics by incorporating PO3H2 or NMe3(+) head groups. Using PC12 cells and three stressors (H2O2, menadione and glutamate), we established safe calix[4]arene levels that are able not only to deliver antioxidant payloads of curcumin, but intriguingly also have inherent antioxidant properties. The calix[4]arenes appear to be potent syntheti...

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a natural polyphenolic compound with many biological activities, has been shown to be protective against ischemia-reperfusion injury. We have synthesized six new catechol ring-fluorinated CAPE derivatives and evaluated their cytotoxic and cytoprotective effects against menadione-induced cytotoxicity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. These results pr...

Reactive oxidant species produced by phagocytes have been reported as being involved in the killing of Aspergillus fumigatus. Fungal superoxide dismutases (SODs) that detoxify superoxide anions could be putative virulence factors for this opportunistic pathogen. Four genes encoding putative Sods have been identified in the A. fumigatus genome: a cytoplasmic Cu/ZnSOD (AfSod1p), a mitochondrial M...

In the last decades, a series of compounds, including quinones and polyphenols, has been described as having anti-fibrillogenic action on α-synuclein (α-syn) whose aggregation is associated to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Most of these molecules act as promiscuous anti-amyloidogenic agents, interacting with the diverse amyloidogenic proteins (mostly unfolded) through non-specif...