Anabel Torrente

5-quinolinol derivatives as potential antitumor agents. – Alba Domínguez Encinas

7 May, 2022 por Anabel Torrente Leave a Comment

Nowadays, cancer is the second greatest cause of death worldwide, with an estimated 10 million deaths in 2020. Although many chemotherapy drugs are used in clinical practice, we still face two challenges: (a) some patients acquire resistance to anti-tumour drugs after long periods of treatment; (b) these drugs can have toxic effects on healthy cells and tissues. The development of new anti-cancer drugs is therefore essential.
Research shows that hyaluronic acid (HA) can encourage the growth and development of tumours as it interacts with the CD44 protein located on the surface of tumour cells. It has also been noted that compounds known as isoquinoline derivatives can inhibit tumour cell growth (antiproliferative activity) by inhibiting HA-CD44 binding.
In this master’s thesis we aim to synthesize a series of 5-quinolinol derivatives (isoquinoline derivatives) to evaluate their antiproliferative activity and the process by which they inhibit HA-CD44 binding.

Keywords: cancer; CD44; hyaluronic acid; quinolinoline; inhibitors

Directed by: Mª Dora Carrión Peregrina

Do the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines remain stable after handling during administration? – Airan Braulio Alonso García

7 May, 2022 por Anabel Torrente Leave a Comment

The pandemic has brought about a revolution in the field of research, especially in pharmacology. Research studies aimed at finding an effective solution against COVID-19 have increased exponentially since the start of the pandemic. Various vaccines are now on sale and have themselves become the subject of numerous research studies. These studies seek to monitor the safety, efficacy, stability, and other aspects of these drugs.

This research studies the stability of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines during distribution and handling in hospital settings to assess whether they maintain their physicochemical properties. To this end, various different stress tests are carried out on the vaccines in the laboratory. These are similar to the stresses to which the vaccines may be exposed during distribution and handling. They are also subjected to more violent stress tests, such as shaking, high temperatures, and exposure to natural or artificial light, among others so as to verify that the particulate that makes up the vaccine remains stable. The aim of this research is to find out whether we can reduce the strict measures that must be followed when distributing the vaccines and administering them to the population.

Keywords: stability; physicochemical properties; vaccines; COVID-19

Directed by: Natalia África Navas Iglesias

Study on the expression of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) genes and their pharmacological applications: Quercetin – Verónica Ruiz Trujillo

2 May, 2022 por Anabel Torrente Leave a Comment

This research was carried out in the Antioxidants, Free Radicals and Nitric Oxide in Biotechnology and Agri-Food Research Group (Zaidín Experimental Station, CSIC, Granada). In recent years, this group has been investigating the possible contribution that peppers can make to a better state of health, thanks to the fact that they contain compounds of pharmacological and therapeutic interest. In collaboration with the University of Malaga and the MEDINA Foundation, we conducted metabolomic and transcriptomic studies to analyse a series of metabolic pathways that lead to the synthesis of molecules with this potential capacity. These molecules are also modulated by nitric oxide (NO), a molecule whose functions in the physiology of both animal and plant cells are increasingly recognised. This Master’s Thesis takes a step further in this strategy which, together with other metabolomic data recently obtained, has allowed the group to focus its research on quercetin, one of the flavonoid compounds present in peppers, which has a number of pharmacological properties.

Keywords: Pepper; nitric oxide (NO); quercetin; flavonoid compounds.

Directed by: José Manuel Palma Martínez

Research on talcum powder from Norway. Quality assessment for pharmaceutical-cosmetic use – Soraya Mena Rosado

1 May, 2022 por Anabel Torrente Leave a Comment

Talc is a mineral species belonging to the Phyllosilicates (class of Silicates). It is a hydrated magnesium silicate, formed naturally by the alteration of other minerals. This means that talcum powder may be composed of additional minerals other than talc (chlorites, carbonates, quartz, amphiboles, among others).
The characteristics of talc make it a unique raw material with a wide variety of applications in different industrial sectors, including the pharmaceutical-cosmetic sector.
Samples of talcum powder were studied and their quality for pharmaceutical-cosmetic use was evaluated using the standards of the European Pharmacopoeia and different advanced complementary methods such as: XRF, DRX, ICP-masses, SEM-EDX, calcimetry and atomic absorption.
Most of the samples presented high relative purity in the mineral species talc, with a content of over 90% in most cases. This indicates good mineral quality for cosmetic use. Most of the samples also have good Pharmacopoeia quality and are therefore suitable for pharmaceutical-cosmetic use.

Keywords: Talc; European Pharmacopoeia; Mineral quality; Pharmaceutical-Cosmetic Use; Impurities.

Directed by: María Virginia Fernández González

Synthesis, purification and structural determination of isoquinolin-5-ol derivatives as antitumor agents – Soledad Romero Tamudo

1 May, 2022 por Anabel Torrente Leave a Comment

Cancer is a disease that begins when a cancerous cell manages to evade the main regulatory mechanisms of the cell cycle and begins to proliferate uncontrollably. It is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, so the search for new therapies is essential.
CD44 is a glycoprotein whose increased expression makes tumors more resistant to cancer treatments. Its ligand is hyaluronic acid (HA) and after binding, signaling cascades are activated that contribute to increased cell proliferation, migration and tissue invasion.
Tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) inhibits binding between CD44 and HA. With this in mind, in this Master’s Thesis, we propose the synthesis of 10 isoquinolin-5-ol derivatives. We will then assess the capacity of these derivatives to act as antitumor agents by inhibiting binding between CD44 and HA.

Keywords: Cancer; CD44; Hyaluronic Acid; Tetrahydroisoquinoline; Inhibitors.

Directed by: María Dora Carrión Peregrina