Mass Spectrometry

Biography

Biography: Juliana Mozer Sciani

Abstract

The search for new drugs and discovery of new targets are being required for the treatment of diseases, as viruses, cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. The combinatory chemistry and rational drug design approaches have failed in the development of new molecular entity, and now the natural source has become an alternative to obtain new molecules, selected during years of evolution. The biodiversity in Brazil is rich, where we can explore it biochemically and take interesting compounds. Thus, our group prospects molecules from animal venoms and secretions using mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, in which we can perform fast screenings, analyse several samples, using few amounts. After MS approaches, we have selected marine animals and amphibians, which we could identify unknown compounds. Recently we identified one peptide from marine ray, Dasyatis americana, that inhibits the herpes virus infection and several other peptides with potential antibacterial and antitumor effect in sea urchins. Moreover, we found two molecules from a toad, Rhinella jimi, able to inhibit the rabies virus infection in in vitro and in vivo models. In order to complement the in vivo studies, we used MS techniques to study pharmacokinetics, as requisite of pre-clinical trials in drug development. Additionally, we developed a serum against bee venom (under clinical trials), after analysis of venom in several conditions and understanding of the best antigen for a better antibody. In conclusion, using MS tools for analysis and screening we can obtain interesting molecules from nature, able to act on biological system and become a drug.