Catalan university libraries

A university library is a cornerstone in the research of any country, and as the English say, it is the heart and measure of a university.Before we embark upon the study of Catalan university libraries it would be convenient to have an overview of the university features which will contribute to our understanding the fundamental traits of the universities that they rely upon.The Universitat de Barcelona (UB) was founded in the 15th century and was the only Catalan University until the 20th century. It has the largest number ofstudents and centres of all the Catalan Universities.The Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) was founded in 1968 and is located in Bellaterra, in the municipality of Cerdanyola. It is the only Catalan university with an out-of-town campus.The Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC) was founded in 1971 and it brought together the various technical colleges and universities that already existed in Barcelona and other Catalan towns, some of which were over a century old. This university is solely devoted to technical studies.The Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) was founded in 1990 in Barcelona. It specializes in social sciences and the humanities, and it has not yet developed its full potential.The Universitat Ramon Llull (URL) was officially recognized as the first private Catalan university in 1991. It amalgamates several private further education colleges which were run by religious institutions, such as the Institut Químic de Sarria and Escola Blanquerna

Relaciones estructura-actividad en compuestos relacionados con la benextramina : análogos heterocíclicos, oxigenados y porciones terminal y central

Tesi de Llicenciatura per a la obtenció del Grau de Farmàcia. Facultat de Farmàcia. Universitat de Barcelona. Director: David Mauleón Casellas. 1983

Resveratrol derivatives: Synthesis and their biological activities

Resveratrol, a natural compound known especially for its antioxidant properties and protective action, opens the door for both it and its structural derivatives to be considered not only as chemopreventive but also as cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Due to the pharmacokinetic problems of resveratrol that demonstrate its poor bioavailability, the study of new derivatives is of interest. Thus, in this work (E)-stilbenes derived directly from resveratrol and other cyclic analogues containing the benzofuran or indole nucleus have been synthesized. The synthesized compounds have been evaluated for their ability to affect tumor growth in vitro. Compounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 have shown cytotoxicity in human colon cancer (HT-29) and human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells (MIA PaCa-2) higher than those of (E)-resveratrol. The indolic derivative 13, a cyclic analog of resveratrol, has shown in vitro cytotoxic activity 8 times higher than resveratrol against HT-29 cancer cells. The cyclic derivatives 8, 9 and 12 showed a high inhibition of cell growth in HCT-116 (KRas mutant) at 20 μM, while 13 shows moderate antiangiogenesis activity at 10 μM

Regioselective alkylation reaction of purines under microwave irradiation

The alkylation of purines which is generally carried out after anion formation by treatment with a base and alkyl halide is complicated and in the best cases, mixtures of N-alkylated compounds are obtained. Purine derivatives can be acquired from alkylation at N-7 and N-9. In this work, the reaction conditions have been optimized to obtain the alkylation products of N-9 regioselectively. Different bases have been tried and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide has led to the best results. The reaction depends on the type of base and solvent used and improves considerably when the aid of microwave irradiation is used, which also considerably reduces the reaction time by reducing the formation of secondary products

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Substituted Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines

A new synthetic routes to the triaryl pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines from common 4,6-dichloropyrimidine have been developed. The triarylated compounds are synthesized by three cross-coupling reactions using three different catalysts. The introduction of C-6-aryl was allowed in two step process using Sonogashira conditions followed by intramolecular cyclization and the Suzuki-Miyaura conditions led the C-4 and C-5 diarylation. This sequence allows a flexible approach to the highly arylated pyrrolopyrimidines containing different aryl group

Insight into the binding of DFG-out allosteric inhibitors to B-Raf Kinase using molecular dynamics and free energy calculations

B-Raf mutations are identified in 40-50% of patients with melanoma and among them, the substitution of valine for glutamic acid at position 600 (V600EB-Raf) is the most frequent. Treatment of these patients with B-Raf inhibitors has been associated with a clear clinical benefit. Unfortunately, multiple resistance mechanisms have been identified and new potent and selective inhibitors are currently needed. In this work, five different type II inhibitors, which bind V600EB-Raf in its DFG-out conformation, have been studied using molecular dynamics, free energy calculations and energy decomposition analysis. The ranking of calculated MM-PB/GBSA binding affinities is in good agreement with the experimentally measured ones. The per-residue decomposition of ΔGbinding, within the MM-GBSA approach, has been used to identify the key residues governing the allosteric binding of the studied compounds to the V600EB-Raf protein kinase. Results indicate that although van der Waals interactions are key determinants for binding, hydrogen bonds also play an important role. This work also provides a better structural understanding of the binding of DFG-out inhibitors to V600EB-Raf, which can be used in a further step for rational design of a new class of B-Raf potent inhibitors

Substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines: synthesis, characterization, antitumor activity and other biological properties

A novel group of aryl methyl sulfones based on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds exhibiting a methyl sulfone instead of the acetic or propionic acid group was designed, synthesized and evaluated in vitro for inhibition against the human cyclooxygenase of COX-1 and COX-2 isoenzymes and in vivo for anti-inflammatory activity using the carrageenan induced rat paw edema model in rats. Also, in vitro chemosensitivity and in vivo analgesic and intestinal side effects were determined for defining the therapeutic and safety profile. Molecular modeling assisted the design of compounds and the interpretation of the experimental results. Biological assay results showed that methyl sulfone compounds 2 and 7 were the most potent COX inhibitors (IC50 between 0.04 and 0.71 M). Also, these highly active methyl sulfones displayed greater COX-2 activity than the parent carboxylic NSAIDs, thus indicating that the replacement of the acetic or propionic acids by a methyl sulfone group enables some of these structures to possess higher COX-2 inhibitory activity than that of the corresponding alkyl carboxylic analogues. The improved inhibitory activity is attributed to the higher flexibility of the sulfone-receptor interaction that enables more profound exploration of the binding site compared with that of acidic analogues. This observation is underpinned by molecular modeling studies that indicates a change in the binding mode or mechanism compared to the standard binding mode displayed by ibuprofen. The most promising compounds 2 and 7 possess a therapeutical profile that enables their chemical scaffolds to be utilized for development of new NSAIDs

Optimization of Xanthatin Extraction from Xanthium spinosum L. and its cytotoxic, anti-angiogenesis and antiviral properties

The aqueous extraction of the sesquiterpene lactone xanthatin from Xanthium spinosum L. favours the conversion of xanthinium to xanthatin via the loss of acetic acid. The cytotoxic (Hep-G2 and L1210 human cell lines) and antiviral activities of isolated xanthatin are established. This natural compound shows significant cytotoxicity against the Hep-G2 cell line and our experimental results reveal its strong anti-angiogenesis capacity in vitro. The structure of xanthatin is determined by spectroscopic methods and for the first time confirmed by X-ray diffraction

Multigram scale synthesis of polycyclic lactones and evaluation of antitumor and other biological properties

An efficient four-step synthesis of tetracyclic lactones from 1,4-benzodioxine-2-carboxylic acid was developed. Ellipticine derivatives exhibit antitumor activity however only a few derivatives without carbazole subunit have been studied to date. Herein, several tetracyclic lactones were synthesized and biologically evaluated. Several compounds (2a, 3a, 4a and 5a) were found to be inhibitors of the KrasWnt pathway. The lactone 2a also exerted a potent inhibition of Tau protein translation and was shown to have capacity for CYP1A1-bioactivation. The results obtained are further evidence of the therapeutic potential of tetracyclic lactones related to ellipticine. Molecular modeling studies showed that compound 2a is inserted between helix a3 and a4 of the KRas protein making interactions with the hydrophobic residues Phe90, Glu91, Ile9364, Hie94, Leu133 and Tyr137and a hydrogen bond with residue Arg97

Development of cationic solid lipid nanoparticles incorporating cholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate (9CCN) for delivery of antagomiRsto macrophages

Lipid-based nanoparticles are a useful tool for nucleic acids delivery and have been regarded as a promising approach for diverse diseases. However, off-targets effects are a matter of concern and some strategies to improve selectivity of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were reported. The goal of this study was to test formulations of SLNs incorporating lipid cholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate (9CCN) as “eat-me” signal to target antagomiR oligonucleotides to macrophages. We formulate four SLNs, and those with a mean diameter of 200 nm and a Z-potential values between 25 and 40 mV, which allowed the antagomiR binding, were selected for in vitro studies. Cell viability, transfection efficiency and cellular uptake assays were performed within in vitro macrophages using flow cytometry and confocal imaging and the SLNs incorporating 25 mg of 9CCN proved to be the best formulation. Subsequently, we used a labeled antagomiR to study tissue distribution in in-vivo ApoE-/- model of atherosclerosis. Using the ApoE-/- model we demonstrated that SLNs with phagocytic signal 9-CCN target macrophages and release the antagomiR cargo in a selective way