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Tesi etd-09082023-161711


Tipo di tesi
Tesi di laurea magistrale LM5
Autore
GIANNACCINI, FRANCESCA
URN
etd-09082023-161711
Titolo
Assess the protective effect against oxidative stress of selected natural compounds in the multicellular system C. elegans.
Dipartimento
FARMACIA
Corso di studi
CHIMICA E TECNOLOGIA FARMACEUTICHE
Relatori
relatore Prof.ssa Testai, Lara
Parole chiave
  • C.elegans
  • oxidative stress
  • natural compounds
  • protective effect
Data inizio appello
04/10/2023
Consultabilità
Non consultabile
Data di rilascio
04/10/2093
Riassunto
In this project, seven natural compounds were tested using the animal model, Caenorhabditis. elegans, in order to investigate their antioxidant properties in vivo at the organismal level.
Investigating the antioxidant properties of natural compounds is important because oxidative stress is causally involved aging and age-associated diseases such as Parkinson, Alzheimer, cancer and others, without an effective treatment.
C. elegans is a powerful model organism used in research from decades to study diseases and genetic pathways. In fact, this worm presents 60-80% genetic homology with human genes and possess many other useful features. To name some: it is a microscopic yet multicellular organism with functionally conserved systems (e.g. neuromuscular, intenstinal, reproductive systems), inexpensive to maintain, the self-fertilization allows to have clones’ progenies, it is easily genetically modified, and the body transparency permits in vivo visualization of tagged proteins. Thanks to its versatility, in more recent years C. elegans has become a powerful model system for in vivo screening of active molecules and compounds and for dissection of their underlying molecular mechanisms.
The tested compounds were all of natural origin and were chosen according to previous studies from the hosting (and other) laboratory indicating their potential anti-aging effects: three polyphenols, Isobavachalcone, Naringenin and Hesperetin; one carotenoid, Lutein and two marine compounds, Kahalalide F and Manzamine A; one apple pulp ethanol extract, Mela Rosa Marchigiana.
Resistance of animals to the glutathione conjugating agent diethyl maleate and to the pro-oxidant Juglone were assessed in order to investigate the antioxidant properties of the selected natural compounds. Different concentrations of toxic chemicals as well as dissolvent were initially tested to establish the best protocol and the different compounds were than tested in different experimental conditions.
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