SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND PURIFICATION OF AG-pBth BIOCONJUGATE AND ITS EVALUATION AS AN ANTIVIRAL COMPOUND AGAINST ZIKA VIRUS

• Grant number: 25/06539-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Maffud Cilli
• Grantee: Thainá Alves de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Diseases related to arboviral diseases have shown a growing emergency, such as the Zika Virus,directly impacting global public health. In more severe cases, zika fever can progress to Congenital Zika Syndrome in case of infection in pregnant women or even for Guillain-Barré Syndrome in children and adults. This is aggravated due to the absence of specific medications forthe treatment of the infection. According to the World Health Organization, Zika Virus is included in the list of priority diseases for research and development in emergency contexts,which highlights the importance of incentives for scientific research related to this virus. In thisscenario, peptides and bioconjugates have emerged as promising therapeutic alternatives forvarious diseases. Antiviral peptides play a relevant role in the discovery of antiviral treatments,as demonstrated by studies of our research group, which worked in the development of solutionsfor the Hepatitis C Virus, Zika Virus, Chikungunya, SARS-CoV-2, among others. In additionto peptides, gallic acid stands out as a compound of interest due to its proven antiviral activity.Therefore, this project aims to investigate the coupling of gallic acid to the peptide (p-Bth) as anew therapeutic strategy against Zika Virus. The hypothesis is that the resulting bioconjugatehas greater inhibitory capacity compared to the isolated peptide and/or gallic acid, in additionto greater chemical stability and selectivity, thus contributing to the development of more effective treatments against the virus.