PROGRAMA NACIONAL DE CIENCIA ANTÁRTICA (PROCIEN)
| Título | Exploring the neuroprotective chemical space of fungi isolated from the Antarctic continent: a new potential source of chemicals to control Alzheimer’s disease. |
| Línea de investigación | Biotecnología |
| Résumen | Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that slowly destroys memory and eventually the ability to perform daily tasks. The precise mechanism of AD is still not entirely understood and it is believed to be a multifactorial disease in which a number of mechanisms are involved in its pathogenesis. The prevalence of AD is alarming. Worldwide, near 37 million people suffer from the effects of AD. In 2013, nearly 85,000 deaths from AD were recorded, positioning AD as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. As a cause of death for elderly, it is predicted that AD may rank third in the coming years, just behind cancer and heart disease. Unfortunately, AD remains an incurable condition. Despite the devastating problems associated with AD, there are only four FDA approved drugs for the treatment of this disorder that partially ameliorate its symptoms. Hence, renewed scientific efforts are required not only to uncover more insights into the AD process but also to develop more efficient pharmaceuticals against this disease. Due to the complexity of the AD process, which involves a number of different mechanisms, the development of drugs by rational design is extremely difficult. The existing drugs to control Alzheimer’s, have had limited success, mainly due to their ability to modulate only one of the mechanisms involved in AD. As opposed to single-targeted strategies, the identification of small molecules able to affect multiple pathways involved in Alzheimer’s is a promising strategy to develop more efficient medicines against this disease. Chile has a rich biodiversity due its different environments including deserts, high mountains, Pacific Ocean, millenary forest and Antarctic ecosystems. This makes our country biologically and chemically distinct. Fungi living in polar environments such as Antarctic have adapted to these demanding conditions by producing a set of unique secondary metabolites that allows them to survive. This fungal chemical space is very attractive for the discovery of new potential drugs. It has been reported that species from the order Russulales and Pseudeutorium display neuroprotective activity against AD and they have, interestingly, been detected in Antarctic soil. Thus, we believe that fungi isolated from Antarctic environments display a yet unexplored neuroprotective chemical space that can potentially be used to control AD. |
| Investigador principal (IP) | Jaime Roberto Cabrera Pardo |
| Contacto | jacabrera@ubiobio.cl |
| Universidad | Universidad del Bío Bío |
| Año de ejecución | 2022-2025 |
| Co-investigadores | Ramón Ahumada Rudolph |
| Colaboración Internacional | |
| Tipo de proyecto | Terreno |
| Código del proyecto | RT_16-21 |
| Equidad | M |
| Sector de trabajo | |
| Número | 82 |