On March 3rd the first seminar of the year of the Center for Bionanosciences Studies (CIBION) took place. The event was in charge of Mariela Bollini, deputy director of this institute and researcher in charge of medicinal chemistry laboratory. She referred about the development of antivirals against neglected infectious diseases.
Bollini explained that the referred conditions have a special impact on the poorest populations with limited access to health care services. This situation is worse in remote rural areas and slums. During her speech, the scientist mentioned some research which is being done in her laboratory, the therapeutic targets that are being studied and the progress of the current projects of the working group.
Since 2016, the CIBION medicinal chemistry group has been working on the development of effective drugs for the treatment of serious zoonotic diseases that are neglected by the productive sector, such as dengue and chikungunya.
As the starting point of this process -explained Bollini- "we carried out the search for candidate molecules using computational methods such as virtual screening and de novo design". Thus, "the selected compounds are synthesized and evaluated against specific targets and, once we identify the leading molecules, we carry out structural modifications in order to optimize the pharmacological potency, bioavailability and improve the safety profile."
Finally, CIBION’s deputy director explained that one of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations is that diseases caused by arboviruses such as dengue and chikungunya will be eliminated by 2030. At the moment, in the case of these two conditions caused by the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito, the treatment is symptomatic and consists of the administration of analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agents.
About the speaker
Mariela Bollini is the deputy director of CIBION - CONICET (since 2022). She is a PHD in medicinal chemistry, independent researcher of CONICET and professor of bioinformatics and biomedicine (ITBA)
