Publications

Chitinases hydrolyse the ??(1,4)-glycosidic bonds of chitin, an essential fungal cell wall component. Genetic data on a subclass of fungal family 18 chitinases have suggested a role in??cell wall morphology. Specific inhibitors of these enzymes would be useful as tools to study their role in cell wall morphogenesis and could possess antifungal properties. Here, we […]

Alzheimer disease is diagnosed postmortem by the density and spatial distribution of β-amyloid plaques and tau-bearing neurofibrillary tangles. The major protein component of each lesion adopts cross-β-sheet conformation capable of binding small molecules with submicromolar affinity. In many cases, however, Alzheimer pathology overlaps with Lewy body disease, characterized by the accumulation of a third cross-β-sheet […]

The aim of this study was to investigate the permeation properties of 20 permanently positive charged molecules in the parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA). Eight of them were derivatives of the N-alkyl-isoquinolinium salt and 12 were congeners of the dye rhodamine 110. Five out of 12 molecules from the rhodamine 110 series have one […]

High-throughput screening (HTS) is the primary technique for new lead identification in drug discovery and chemical biology. Unfortunately, it is susceptible to false-positive hits. One common mechanism for such false-positives is the congregation of organic molecules into colloidal aggregates, which nonspecifically inhibit enzymes. To both evaluate the feasibility of large-scale identification of aggregate-based inhibition and […]

High throughput screening (HTS) data is often noisy, containing both false positives and negatives. Thus, careful triaging and prioritization of the primary hit list can save time and money by identifying potential false positives before incurring the expense of followup. Of particular concern are cell-based reporter gene assays (RGAs) where the number of hits may […]

There is an urgent need for the development of new antifungal agents. A facile in vivo model that evaluates libraries of chemical compounds could solve some of the main obstacles in current antifungal discovery. We show that Candida albicans, as well as other Candida species, are ingested by Caenorhabditis elegans and establish a persistent lethal […]

BACKGROUND Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), which is transmitted by Aedes spp mosquitoes, has recently caused several outbreaks on islands in the Indian Ocean and on the Indian subcontinent. We report on an outbreak in Italy. METHODS After reports of a large number of cases of febrile illness of unknown origin in two contiguous villages in northeastern […]