Leonardo Melo de Lima

Leonardo Melo de Lima


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

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

Representative Publications

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6 December 2022 in Biomolecules
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Journal Article
Open access
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LDLevy Tenório Sousa Domingos
Levy Tenório Sousa Domingos
RMRAQUEL MARTINS
RAQUEL MARTINS
Leonardo Melo de LimaLeonardo Melo de Lima
Leonardo Melo de Lima
Angela Michelato GhizeliniAngela Michelato Ghizelini
Angela Michelato Ghizelini
Antonio Ferreira-PereiraAntonio Ferreira-Pereira
Antonio Ferreira-Pereira
Fernando CotinguibaFernando Cotinguiba
Fernando Cotinguiba
Aspergillus unguis belongs to the Aspergillus section Nidulantes. This species is found in soils and organisms from marine environments, such as jellyfishes and sponges. The first chemical study reported in the literature dates from 1970, with depsidones nidulin (1), nornidulin (2), and unguinol (3) being the first isolated compounds. Fifty-two years since this first study, the isolation and characterization of ninety-seven (97) compounds have been reported. These compounds are from different classes, such as depsides, depsidones, phthalides, cyclopeptides, indanones, diarylethers, pyrones, benzoic acid derivatives, orcinol/orsenillate derivatives, and sesterpenoids. In terms of biological activities, the first studies on isolated compounds from A. unguis came only in the 1990s. Considering the tendency for antiparasitic and antibiotics to become ineffective against resistant microorganisms and larvae, A. unguis compounds have also been extensively investigated and some compounds are considered very promising. In addition to these larvicidal and antimicrobial activities, these compounds also show activity against cancer cell lines, animal growth promotion, antimalarial and antioxidant activities. Despite the diversity of these compounds and reported biological activities, A. unguis remains an interesting target for studies on metabolic induction to produce new compounds, the determination of new biological activities, medicinal chemistry, structural modification, biotechnological approaches, and molecular modeling, which have yet to be extensively explored.