23. May 2018

CEITEC MU scientists at the head of international team, Ondřej Jurček, as the first author, Martin Novák and Radek Marek, have recently published an article in Chemistry – A European Journal, in which they carried out detailed structural analysis of non-toxic anionophore of exceptional interest for biomedical applications and studied its interaction with a broad range of biogenic anions. This study highlights the preorganization conferred by the trans-1,5-diureidodecalin framework and helps to understand more of its properties and behaviour. This is important for further progress towards its practical use. A particular hope is that such artificial anion carriers can be used to replace the activity of natural anion channels (e.g. CFTR) which are missing or defective in a number of genetic disorders, most notably, the widespread life-shortening disease cystic fibrosis (CF). This article is a follow-up on a study published in Nature Chemistry (doi:10.1038/nchem.2384), where scientists, together with Ondřej, have introduced and studied the biological activity of this exceptional anionophore for the first time.

A great number of anion carriers, including this one, has been developed and studied in the laboratories of Prof. A. P. Davis from the University of Bristol, who will have a lecture within the Life Sciences Seminar Series on Thursday, 24th of May at 16:00 in A11/132