1. (2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-1,4-benzoquinone)
Synthesis of Embelin-like products A Telethon project in collaboration with professor S. Ricagno, Dipartimento di Bioscienze and CIMAINA, Università degli Studi di Milano.
FENIB (Familial Encephalopathy with Neuroserpin Inclusion Bodies) is a rare human pathology characterized by polymerization and intracellular deposition of neuroserpin proteins, a class of neuronal serin protease inhibitors.
Studies in recent years showed that Embelin is able to disaggregate polymers already formed and inhibit further neuroserpin polymerization1.
Embelin
(2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-1,4-benzoquinone)
However, Embelin displays poor solubility in aqueous solution and a non-negligible cellular toxicity. The aim of the project is to synthetize Embelin-like molecules that solve these problems but maintain similar biological activity.
Point mutations in the shutter domain of the monomeric neuroserpin (indicated by the purple circle) lead to protein-misfoldiing. The misfolded proteins then aggregate to form polymers.
1 Scientific Reports volume 6, Article number: 18769 (2016)