Person:
Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos

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First Name
José Carlos
Last Name
Menéndez Ramos
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Farmacia
Department
Química en Ciencias Farmacéuticas
Area
Química Orgánica
Identifiers
UCM identifierORCIDScopus Author IDWeb of Science ResearcherIDDialnet IDGoogle Scholar ID

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Eco-friendly liquid chromatographic separations based on the use of cyclodextrins as mobile phase additives
    (Green Chemistry, 2011) González Ruiz, Víctor; León Leal, Andrés Gerardo; Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos; Martín Carmona, María Antonia; Olives Barba, Ana Isabel
    Acetonitrile and methanol are the most popular solvents employed in analytical HPLC, but they suffer from a number of drawbacks from the environmental point of view. Alternative, greener mobile phases employing methanol or the less toxic solvent ethanol as the sole organic solvent are proposed in this paper, and applied to the problem of the separation of b-carbolines on C18-stationary phases. The use of b-cyclodextrin (b-CD) and (2-hydroxypropyl)-b-cyclodextrin (HPb-CD) as mobile phase additives allowed us to increase the proportion of water in the mobile phases without loss in the resolution or efficiency of the separations, leading initially to a considerable reduction of the proportion of methanol in the mobile phase (from 70% to 50%) and at a later stage, to the development of a mobile phase containing only 30% of ethanol. The b-carboline–cyclodextrin association constants were determined by HPLC, and the inclusion complexes were also characterized by 1 H-NMR, 13C-NMR and 2D-ROESY experiments, and these studies were used to explain the chromatographic behaviour. The new chromatographic methodology developed was validated and applied to the quantitation of b-carboline derivatives in spiked human serum samples. For the extraction of b-carboline alkaloids from serum samples, liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedures were compared. It was concluded that the combination of a pre-treatment procedure (ionic exchange SPE) with a water-enriched chromatographic separation leads to a promising, environmentally friendly new methodology.
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    Bifunctional carbazole derivatives for simultaneous therapy and fluorescence imaging in prion disease murine cell models
    (European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2022) Staderini, Matteo; Vanni, Silvia; Colini Baldeschi, Arianna; Zattoni, Marco; Celauro, Luigi; Ferracin, Chiara; Bistaffa, Edoardo; Moda, Fabio; Pérez, Daniel I.; Martínez, Ana; Martín Carmona, María Antonia; Martín Cámara, Olmo; Cores Esperón, Ángel; Bianchini, Giulia; Kammerer, Robert; Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos; Legname, Giuseppe; Bolognesi, Maria Laura
    Prion diseases are characterized by the self-assembly of pathogenic misfolded scrapie isoforms (PrPSc) of the cellular prion protein (PrPC). In an effort to achieve a theranostic profile, symmetrical bifunctional carbazole derivatives were designed as fluorescent rigid analogues of GN8, a pharmacological chaperone that stabilizes the native PrPC conformation and prevents its pathogenic conversion. A focused library was synthesized via a four- step route, and a representative member was confirmed to have native fluorescence, including a band in the near- infrared region. After a cytotoxicity study, compounds were tested on the RML-infected ScGT1 neuronal cell line, by monitoring the levels of protease-resistant PrPSc. Small dialkylamino groups at the ends of the molecule were found to be optimal in terms of therapeutic index, and the bis-(dimethylaminoacetamido)carbazole derivative 2b was selected for further characterization. It showed activity in two cellClines infected with the mouse-adapted RML strain (ScGT1 and ScN2a). Unlike GN8, 2b did not affect PrP levels, which represents a potential advantage in terms of toxicity. Amyloid Seeding Assay (ASA) experiments showed the capacity of 2b to delay the aggregation of recombinant mouse PrP. Its ability to interfere with the amplification of the scrapie RML strain by Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) was shown to be higher than that of GN8, although 2b did not inhibit the amplification of human vCJD prion. Fluorescent staining of PrPSc aggregates by 2b was confirmed in living cells. 2b emerges as an initial hit compound for further medicinal chemistry optimization towards strain- independent anti-prion compounds.
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    Twenty-first century antiepileptic drugs. An overview of their targets and synthetic approaches
    (2024) Sánchez Cebrián, Juan Domingo; González Matilla, Juan Francisco; Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos
    The therapeutic use of the traditional drugs against epilepsy has been hindered by their toxicity and low selectivity. These limitations have stimulated the design and development of new generations of antiepileptic drugs. This review explores the molecular targets and synthesis of the antiepileptic drugs that have entered the market in the 21st century, with a focus on manufacturer synthesis.
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    Curcumin-Piperlongumine Hybrids with a Multitarget Profile Elicit Neuroprotection in In Vitro Models of Oxidative Stress and Hyperphosphorylation
    (Antioxidants, 2021) Cores Esperón, Ángel; Carmona Zafra, Noelia; Martín Cámara, Olmo; Sánchez Cebrián, Juan Domingo; Duarte, Pablo; Villacampa Sanz, Mercedes; Bermejo Bescos, María De La Paloma; Martín-Aragón Álvarez, Sagrario; León Martínez, Rafael; Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos
    Curcumin shows a broad spectrum of activities of relevance in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, it is poorly absorbed and is also chemically and metabolically unstable, leading to a very low oral bioavailability. A small library of hybrid compounds designed as curcumin analogues and incorporating the key structural fragment of piperlongumine, a natural neuroinflammation inhibitor, were synthesized by a two-step route that combines a three-component reaction between primary amines, β-ketoesters and α-haloesters and a base-promoted acylation with cinnamoyl chlorides. These compounds were predicted to have good oral absorption and CNS permeation, had good scavenging properties in the in vitro DPPH experiment and in a cellular assay based on the oxidation of dichlorofluorescin to a fluorescent species. The compounds showed low toxicity in two cellular models, were potent inductors of the Nrf2-ARE phase II antioxidant response, inhibited PHF6 peptide aggregation, closely related to Tau protein aggregation and were active against the LPS-induced inflammatory response. They also afforded neuroprotection against an oxidative insult induced by inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain with the rotenone-oligomycin A combination and against Tau hyperphosphorylation induced by the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid. This multitarget pharmacological profile is highly promising in the development of treatments for AD and provides a good hit structure for future optimization efforts.
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    Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and Neuroprotective Profiles of Novel 1,4-Dihydropyridine Derivatives for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
    (Antioxidants, 2020) Michalska Dziama, Patrycja; Mayo, Paloma; Fernández-Mendívil, Cristina; Tenti, Giammarco; Duarte, Pablo; Buendia, Izaskun; Ramos García, María Teresa; López, Manuela G.; Menéndez Ramos, José Carlos; León, Rafael; León Martínez, Rafael
    Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic and irreversible pathological process that has become the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease. Currently, it is considered a multifactorial disease where oxidative stress and chronic neuroinflammation play a crucial role in its onset and development. Its characteristic neuronal loss has been related to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles mainly composed by hyperphosphorylated tau protein. Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein is related to the over-activity of GSK-3β, a kinase that participates in several pathological mechanisms including neuroinflammation. Neuronal loss is also related to cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis dysregulation that triggers apoptosis and free radicals production, contributing to oxidative damage and, finally, neuronal death. Under these premises, we have obtained a new family of 4,7-dihydro-2H-pyrazolo[3–b]pyridines as multitarget directed ligands showing potent antioxidant properties and able to scavenge both oxygen and nitrogen radical species, and also, with anti-inflammatory properties. Further characterization has demonstrated their capacity to inhibit GSK-3β and to block L-type voltage dependent calcium channels. Novel derivatives have also demonstrated an interesting neuroprotective profile on in vitro models of neurodegeneration. Finally, compound 4g revokes cellular death induced by tau hyperphosphorylation in hippocampal slices by blocking reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In conclusion, the multitarget profile exhibited by these compounds is a novel therapeutic strategy of potential interest in the search of novel treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.