Opportunities for natural products: study of the antineoplastic activity of new semisynthetic derivatives of geraniol

• Grant number: 22/12402-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Erico Tosoni Costa
• Grantee: Ariela Mo
• Host Institution: Hospital Sírio-Libanês. Sociedade Beneficente de Senhoras (SBSHSL). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Natural products are a valuable matrix of compounds with many applications in various areas of Pharmacology, Biology, and Medicine. This is particularly evident in the field of modern oncology, where more than three-quarters of all anticancer compounds are derived from these products, either by structural modification of the original natural compounds (semisynthesis) or by the integral synthesis of new compounds, designed from a natural compound as a template. Among the natural products with potential applications is geraniol, an acyclic alcohol derived from aromatic plants, which exerts a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiulcer, and neuroprotective activities. In the field of oncology, geraniol exerts a cytotoxic effect on several cancer cell lines, particularly among colorectal cancers (CRCs) given their high permeability to the intestinal epithelium. CRC is the second most common type of cancer in Brazil and one of the leading causes of cancer mortality. Foreseeing the potential of geraniol as an antineoplastic agent, this project aims to generate semi-synthetic derivatives from this molecule and to measure the antineoplastic potential of this new generation of derivatives (several of them novel) in models of CRC to potentiate its antitumor efficacy and reduce its toxicity. As models, we will use in vitro immortalized CRC cell lines for cytotoxicity tests and the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) for toxicity tests of the geraniol derivatives.