Our research aims at the identification and characterization of new biologically active compounds, as new potential therapeutic tools. The interdisciplinary approach is the driving force of our activities, which include the design, synthesis and analysis of new molecules able to modulate targets and biological processes involved in various pathologies.
- We identify, through a rational design approach, new neuroprotective agents, potentially useful both to fight neurodegenerative diseases and as pharmacological tools to understand the molecular mechanisms.
- We develop new anticancer agents whose mechanism of action involves the modulation of proteins involved in different processes of cell survival and viability. Particularly aggressive and/or rare tumors (including glioblastoma, multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer) are the main therapeutic focus.
- We design, synthesize and identify compounds capable of countering antimicrobial resistance by inhibiting biofilm formation and quorum sensing (QS), the mechanism that bacteria use to communicate cell-to-cell, coordinate and act as a population.
- We extract and isolate active ingredients from natural sources, with antitumor, neuroprotective, and antimicrobial activity.