Rita Vaickelionienė

Dr. Rita Vaickelionienė

Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

23Years (2004-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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Journal Article
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RMRūta Minickaitė
Rūta Minickaitė
Birutė GrybaitėBirutė Grybaitė
Birutė Grybaitė
RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
PKPovilas Kavaliauskas
Povilas Kavaliauskas
VPVIDMANTAS PETRAITIS
VIDMANTAS PETRAITIS
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
It is well-known that thiazole derivatives are usually found in lead structures, which demonstrate a wide range of pharmacological effects. The aim of this research was to explore the antiviral, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of novel, substituted thiazole compounds and to find potential agents that could have biological activities in one single biomolecule. A series of novel aminothiazoles were synthesized, and their biological activity was characterized. The obtained results were compared with those of the standard antiviral, antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer agents. The compound bearing 4-cianophenyl substituent in the thiazole ring demonstrated the highest cytotoxic properties by decreasing the A549 viability to 87.2%. The compound bearing 4-trifluoromethylphenyl substituent in the thiazole ring showed significant antiviral activity against the PR8 influenza A strain, which was comparable to the oseltamivir and amantadine. Novel compounds with 4-chlorophenyl, 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, phenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, and 4-cianophenyl substituents in the thiazole ring demonstrated antioxidant activity by DPPH, reducing power, FRAP methods, and antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis bacteria. These data demonstrate that substituted aminothiazole derivatives are promising scaffolds for further optimization and development of new compounds with potential influenza A-targeted antiviral activity. Study results could demonstrate that structure optimization of novel aminothiazole compounds may be useful in the prevention of reactive oxygen species and developing new specifically targeted antioxidant and antibacterial agents.

29 April 2021 in Molecules
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BSBirutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
Birutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
VPVykintas Palskys
Vykintas Palskys
RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
JSJurate Siugzdaite
Jurate Siugzdaite
PKPovilas Kavaliauskas
Povilas Kavaliauskas
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
The p-aminobenzoic acid was applied for the synthesis of substituted 1-phenyl-5-oxopyrrolidine derivatives containing benzimidazole, azole, oxadiazole, triazole, dihydrazone, and dithiosemicarbazide moieties in the structure. All the obtained compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by using MIC and MBC assays. This study showed a good bactericidal activity of γ-amino acid and benzimidazoles derivatives. The antimicrobial activity of the most promising compounds was higher than ampicillin. Furthermore, two benzimidazoles demonstrated good antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes (MIC 15.62 µg/mL) that was four times more potent than ampicillin (MIC 65 µg/mL). Further studies are needed to better understand the mechanism of the antimicrobial activity as well as to generate antimicrobial compounds based on the 1-phenyl-5-oxopyrrolidine scaffold.

23 December 2021 in Molecules
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DMDovilė Malūkaitė
Dovilė Malūkaitė
Birutė GrybaitėBirutė Grybaitė
Birutė Grybaitė
RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
GVGiedrius Vaickelionis
Giedrius Vaickelionis
BSBirutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
Birutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
Rapidly growing antimicrobial resistance among clinically important bacterial and fungal pathogens accounts for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, it is critical to look for new small molecules targeting multidrug-resistant pathogens. Herein, in this paper we report a synthesis, ADME properties, and in vitro antimicrobial activity characterization of novel thiazole derivatives bearing β-amino acid, azole, and aromatic moieties. The in silico ADME characterization revealed that compounds 1–9 meet at least 2 Lipinski drug-like properties while cytotoxicity studies demonstrated low cytotoxicity to Vero cells. Further in vitro antimicrobial activity characterization showed the selective and potent bactericidal activity of 2a–c against Gram-positive pathogens (MIC 1–64 µg/mL) with profound activity against S. aureus (MIC 1–2 µg/mL) harboring genetically defined resistance mechanisms. Furthermore, the compounds 2a–c exhibited antifungal activity against azole resistant A. fumigatus, while only 2b and 5a showed antifungal activity against multidrug resistant yeasts including Candida auris. Collectively, these results demonstrate that thiazole derivatives 2a–c and 5a could be further explored as a promising scaffold for future development of antifungal and antibacterial agents targeting highly resistant pathogenic microorganisms.

17 February 2024 in Antibiotics
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PKPovilas Kavaliauskas
Povilas Kavaliauskas
Birutė GrybaitėBirutė Grybaitė
Birutė Grybaitė
BSBirutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
Birutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
VPVIDMANTAS PETRAITIS
VIDMANTAS PETRAITIS
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
Infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens represent a significant global health concern, contributing to increased morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, it is crucial to develop novel compounds targeting drug-resistant microbial strains. Herein, we report the synthesis of amino acid derivatives bearing an incorporated 4-hydroxyphenyl moiety with various substitutions. The resultant novel 3-((4-hydroxyphenyl)amino)propanoic acid derivatives 2–37 exhibited structure-dependent antimicrobial activity against both ESKAPE group bacteria and drug-resistant Candida species. Furthermore, these derivatives demonstrated substantial activity against Candida auris, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 64 µg/mL. Hydrazones 14–16, containing heterocyclic substituents, showed the most potent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. This activity extended to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with MIC values ranging from 1 to 8 µg/mL, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (0.5–2 µg/mL), Gram-negative pathogens (MIC 8–64 µg/mL), and drug-resistant Candida species (MIC 8–64 µg/mL), including Candida auris. Collectively, these findings underscore the potential utility of the novel 3-((4-hydroxyphenyl)amino)propanoic acid scaffold for further development as a foundational platform for novel antimicrobial agents targeting emerging and drug-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens.

23 March 2023 in PLOS ONE
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RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
Vilma PetrikaiteVilma Petrikaite
Vilma Petrikaite
IVIrena Vaškevičienė
Irena Vaškevičienė
APAlvydas Pavilonis
Alvydas Pavilonis
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
A series of new derivatives based on sulfamethoxazole were designed and synthesized in this study. The structures of the new compounds were confirmed based on a comprehensive characterization of spectral data by applied IR and 1H as well as 13C NMR spectroscopy. The prepared compounds were tested for their anticancer and antimicrobial properties. Hydrazone 16b demonstrated convincing anticancer effect against all tested cell cultures such as human prostate carcinoma PPC-1 and human kidney carcinoma CaKi-1 cell lines, and human fibroblasts HF, n = 3. The most promising compound 16b showed higher activity against CaKi-1 cell line than the anticancer drugs axitinib and pazopanib used to treat renal cancer. Also, it was more active in the PPC-1 cell line compared to the approved PARP inhibitor Olaparib. Hydrazone 16b was also found to possess good antimicrobial properties against gram-positive bacteria strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, as well as Bacillus cereus.

6 August 2022 in Pharmaceuticals
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KKKarolina Kairytė
Karolina Kairytė
Birutė GrybaitėBirutė Grybaitė
Birutė Grybaitė
RVRita Vaickelionienė
Rita Vaickelionienė
BSBirutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
Birutė Sapijanskaitė-Banevič
PKPovilas Kavaliauskas
Povilas Kavaliauskas
VMVytautas Mickevičius
Vytautas Mickevičius
The 1-(4-acetamidophenyl)-5-oxopyrrolidine carboxylic acid was applied for synthesizing derivatives bearing azole, diazole, and hydrazone moieties in the molecule. Modification of an acetamide fragment to the free amino group afforded compounds with two functional groups, which enabled to provide a series of 4-substituted-1-(4-substituted phenyl)pyrrolidine-2-ones. The resulted compounds 2 and 4–22 were subjected to the in vitro anticancer and antimicrobial activity determination. The compounds 18–22 exerted the most potent anticancer activity against A549 cells. Furthermore, compound 21 bearing 5-nitrothiophene substituents demonstrated promising and selective antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, including linezolid and tedizolid-resistant S. aureus. These results demonstrate that 5-oxopyrolidine derivatives are attractive scaffolds for the further development of anticancer and antimicrobial compounds targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.