Aflatoxins represent a major issue for a food and feed economy based on cereal cultivations, and aflatoxins contamination constitutes a health emergency because these mycotoxins, besides being toxic, are among the most carcinogenic substances known. Even if Aspergillus species were dominant in tropical regions, due to the climatic change they recently became a serious concern also in Europe. In Italy, this problem is particularly relevant in the Po Valley, in which maize market is strictly linked to dairy products such as the well-known Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Despite of countless efforts, to date the problem of food and feed contamination remains unsolved, since the essential factors that affect aflatoxins production are various and hardly to handle together. In this scenario, the exploitation of bioactive natural sources to obtain new agents with novel mechanisms of action may represent a successful strategy to minimize at the same time mycotoxin contamination and the use of harmful pesticides. In 2015 Aflatox® Project was granted from Cariplo Fundation: purpose of our project was the development of new-generation inhibitors of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp proliferation and toxin production, through the modification of naturally occurring molecules; a panel of at least 180 compounds, based on a class of molecules named thiosemicarbazones, have been analyzed for their antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic ability. Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and epi-genotoxicity of new-synthesized compounds was assessed on both human cell lines and in vitro model systems, and finally data were assembled in a Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) database correlating chemical structures with biological/toxicological activities. This study was supported by a grant from “Fondazione Cariplo” (Project N. 2014-0555).

PROJECT AFLATOX®: A NEW APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIFUNGAL AND ANTIMYCOTOXIGENIC COMPOUNDS / Degola, Francesca; Spadola, Giorgio; Pioli, Marianna; Orsoni, Nicolo'; Montalbano, Serena; Bartoli, Jennifer; Rogolino, Dominga; Bisceglie, Franco; Buschini, Annamaria; Carcelli, Mauro; Pelosi, Giorgio; Restivo, Francesco Maria; Donatelli, Feretti; Claudia, Zani. - (2018). (Intervento presentato al convegno 9th International Agriculture Symposium “AGROSYM 2018” tenutosi a Jahorina,Bosnia and Herzegovina nel 4-7/10/2018).

PROJECT AFLATOX®: A NEW APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIFUNGAL AND ANTIMYCOTOXIGENIC COMPOUNDS

Francesca Degola
;
Giorgio Spadola;Marianna Pioli;ORSONI, NICOLO';Serena Montalbano;BARTOLI, JENNIFER;Dominga Rogolino;Franco Bisceglie;Annamaria Buschini;Mauro Carcelli;Giorgio Pelosi;Francesco Maria Restivo;
2018-01-01

Abstract

Aflatoxins represent a major issue for a food and feed economy based on cereal cultivations, and aflatoxins contamination constitutes a health emergency because these mycotoxins, besides being toxic, are among the most carcinogenic substances known. Even if Aspergillus species were dominant in tropical regions, due to the climatic change they recently became a serious concern also in Europe. In Italy, this problem is particularly relevant in the Po Valley, in which maize market is strictly linked to dairy products such as the well-known Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Despite of countless efforts, to date the problem of food and feed contamination remains unsolved, since the essential factors that affect aflatoxins production are various and hardly to handle together. In this scenario, the exploitation of bioactive natural sources to obtain new agents with novel mechanisms of action may represent a successful strategy to minimize at the same time mycotoxin contamination and the use of harmful pesticides. In 2015 Aflatox® Project was granted from Cariplo Fundation: purpose of our project was the development of new-generation inhibitors of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp proliferation and toxin production, through the modification of naturally occurring molecules; a panel of at least 180 compounds, based on a class of molecules named thiosemicarbazones, have been analyzed for their antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic ability. Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and epi-genotoxicity of new-synthesized compounds was assessed on both human cell lines and in vitro model systems, and finally data were assembled in a Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) database correlating chemical structures with biological/toxicological activities. This study was supported by a grant from “Fondazione Cariplo” (Project N. 2014-0555).
2018
PROJECT AFLATOX®: A NEW APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIFUNGAL AND ANTIMYCOTOXIGENIC COMPOUNDS / Degola, Francesca; Spadola, Giorgio; Pioli, Marianna; Orsoni, Nicolo'; Montalbano, Serena; Bartoli, Jennifer; Rogolino, Dominga; Bisceglie, Franco; Buschini, Annamaria; Carcelli, Mauro; Pelosi, Giorgio; Restivo, Francesco Maria; Donatelli, Feretti; Claudia, Zani. - (2018). (Intervento presentato al convegno 9th International Agriculture Symposium “AGROSYM 2018” tenutosi a Jahorina,Bosnia and Herzegovina nel 4-7/10/2018).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2850764
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