Determining the potential neuroprotective effects of some new natural compounds
Project no. 23729 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2022
Summary
<p>Neurodegenerative diseases include a group of diseases that result from the death of neuron cells and are generally associated with old age. Rapid aging of the population in developing societies such as Türkiye increases the incidence of NDHs, and this creates a great burden on both families and the healthcare system. The fact that current treatments only provide symptomatic benefits makes NDH one of the most important health problems, drawing attention to the importance of effective treatment discovery. Although NDHs include various neurological disorders with very different pathological mechanisms, increased oxidative stress has been suggested as one of the common etiologies, and approaches to maintain oxidative balance are promising for the treatment of NDHs. Both studies in the literature and previous studies of our project team have proven that cycloastrogenol (SA), a sapogenin obtained from Astagalus species, has a neuroprotective effect through the activation of the Nrf-2 pathway, one of the most important protection mechanisms of the cell against oxidative stress. Based on these data, our preliminary studies have shown that cyclocephalogenol (SF), isolated from Astragalus species, is also a potent neuroprotective molecule. Thereupon, within the scope of our preliminary studies, 20 new SF derivatives were obtained through microbial biotransformation. In our project proposal, it is planned to screen the neuroprotective effects of 20 metabolites that are new to the literature and reveal the structure-effect relationship. Additionally, the effects of the most active molecules to be selected on reactive oxygen species formation, mitochondrial damage and Nrf-2 activity will be examined to obtain information about their activity mechanisms. The absence of any biological activity related to SF and its derivatives in the literature makes the data to be obtained within the scope of our project proposal quite unique. Obtaining positive results from the project, which aims to focus on a drug candidate obtained from our country's natural resources, will encourage our group for further studies.</p>