NO-donating luminescent bioactive compounds applicable to viral inhibition of COVID-19

• Grant number: 20/13039-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Sergio Antonio Marques de Lima
• Grantee: Alessandra Mara Garbosa Mutti
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50869-6 - INCT 2014: on Organic Electronics, AP.TEM

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has had and is having an impact of immeasurable dimensions worldwide. Because it is a new disease, all knowledge about it is still extremely preliminary. Many patients with COVID-19 evolve to severe cases, manifesting high-grade respiratory deterioration and unpredictability, and requiring the use of mechanical ventilation, which increases the chances of contracting bacterial infections, such as VAP (ventilator associated pneumonia), worsening lung damage and raising the mortality rate. The application of nebulizers is a viable alternative, since it enhances the therapeutic action and reduces the risks of hypothermia, bronchospasm, and ciliary damage, as well as systemic exposure to the medication. The nebulized drug, therefore, must pass through the airways and reach the target site to exert the expected action. In this sense, nanobiotechnology has brought invaluable advances in the treatment of pathologies, through innovative methodologies that will replace traditional treatments. However, the big challenge is to develop efficient systems that combine detection and treatment, aligned with biocompatibility and the absence of side effects to human health. Thus, this proposal aims to introduce an innovative strategy to design and produce bioactive compounds based on organic curcuminoid nitrates coordinated with lanthanide ions and nanoencapsulated in a biocompatible polymer, which, when released in a controlled way in the biological environment, can act both as image agents, through photoluminescence of lanthanide complexes, as therapeutic agents in the generation of NO by the curcuminoid derivatives. This project will, therefore, make a significant contribution to the technological development that belongs to the area of biomarkers and luminescent sensors for nanoscale therapy, especially in the study of the antiviral potential of curcuminoid derivatives used in nebulizers on the Sars-CoV-2 virus (coronavirus).