ILIANA ZANTZA

Mrs. ILIANA ZANTZA


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

7Years (2020-Present)

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

Representative Publications

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16 August 2020 in Molecules
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AFANNA MARIA FANTEL
ANNA MARIA FANTEL
VMVassilios Myrianthopoulos
Vassilios Myrianthopoulos
AGAnastasios Georgoulis
Anastasios Georgoulis
NLNikolaos Lougiakis
Nikolaos Lougiakis
IZILIANA ZANTZA
ILIANA ZANTZA
Emmanuel MikrosEmmanuel Mikros
Emmanuel Mikros
Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) is a key enzyme in the production of the signaling molecule hydrogen sulfide, deregulation of which is known to contribute to a range of serious pathological states. Involvement of hydrogen sulfide in pathways of paramount importance for cellular homeostasis renders CBS a promising drug target. An in-house focused library of heteroaromatic compounds was screened for CBS modulators by the methylene blue assay and a pyrazolopyridine derivative with a promising CBS inhibitory potential was discovered. The compound activity was readily comparable to the most potent CBS inhibitor currently known, aminoacetic acid, while a promising specificity over the related cystathionine γ-lyase was identified. To rule out any possibility that the inhibitor may bind the enzyme regulatory domain due to its high structural similarity with cofactor s-adenosylmethionine, differential scanning fluorimetry was employed. A sub-scaffold search guided follow-up screening of related compounds, providing preliminary structure-activity relationships with respect to requisites for efficient CBS inhibition by this group of heterocycles. Subsequently, a hypothesis regarding the exact binding mode of the inhibitor was devised on the basis of the available structure-activity relationships (SAR) and a deep neural networks analysis and further supported by induced-fit docking calculations.