Browsing by Author "Araya-Maturana, Ramiro"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Identification of Antioxidant Methyl Derivatives of Ortho-Carbonyl Hydroquinones That Reduce Caco-2 Cell Energetic Metabolism and Alpha-Glucosidase Activity
    (2024) Monroy-Cardenas, Matias; Almarza, Cristopher; Valenzuela-Hormazabal, Paulina; Ramirez, David; Urra, Felix A.; Martinez-Cifuentes, Maximiliano; Araya-Maturana, Ramiro
    alpha-glucosidase, a pharmacological target for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), is present in the intestinal brush border membrane and catalyzes the hydrolysis of sugar linkages during carbohydrate digestion. Since alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) modulate intestinal metabolism, they may influence oxidative stress and glycolysis inhibition, potentially addressing intestinal dysfunction associated with T2DM. Herein, we report on a study of an ortho-carbonyl substituted hydroquinone series, whose members differ only in the number and position of methyl groups on a common scaffold, on radical-scavenging activities (ORAC assay) and correlate them with some parameters obtained by density functional theory (DFT) analysis. These compounds' effect on enzymatic activity, their molecular modeling on alpha-glucosidase, and their impact on the mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis of the intestinal Caco-2 cell line were evaluated. Three groups of compounds, according their effects on the Caco-2 cells metabolism, were characterized: group A (compounds 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, and 10) reduces the glycolysis, group B (compounds 1 and 6) reduces the basal mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and increases the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), suggesting that it induces a metabolic remodeling toward glycolysis, and group C (compounds 4 and 7) increases the glycolysis lacking effect on OCR. Compounds 5 and 10 were more potent as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) than acarbose, a well-known AGI with clinical use. Moreover, compound 5 was an OCR/ECAR inhibitor, and compound 10 was a dual agent, increasing the proton leak-driven OCR and inhibiting the maximal electron transport flux. Additionally, menadione-induced ROS production was prevented by compound 5 in Caco-2 cells. These results reveal that slight structural variations in a hydroquinone scaffold led to diverse antioxidant capability, alpha-glucosidase inhibition, and the regulation of mitochondrial bioenergetics in Caco-2 cells, which may be useful in the design of new drugs for T2DM and metabolic syndrome.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    On the mechanism of biological activity of hydroquinone derivatives that inhibit tumor cell respiration. A theoretical study
    (2013) Soto-Delgado, Jorge; Bahamonde-Padilla, Victor; Araya-Maturana, Ramiro; Weiss-Lopez, Boris E.
    A simple mechanism to understand the biological activity of a series of hydroquinone derivatives is proposed. To validate this proposition Gibbs free energies of formation of the different species involved were calculated. The calculations were performed using density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31++G(2df,p) level of theory, including solvation effect. The results show that two important variables to examine are the equilibrium phenol-phenoxide and the solvation energy of neutral species, since the balance between both variables affects the capability of the molecules to cross membranes. Once the molecule crossed the membrane, the formation of radical species shows a qualitative correlation with the magnitude of IC50 values. This provides a reasonable criterion to search for more efficient anticancer drug. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.