Dr. Golden's Research General Meeting
Heterocyclic scaffolds
Use many different scaffolds to form different molecules that have different purposes and biological activities
Alpha Virus Program
Alpha viruses can cause arthritis/ bone degradation or brain inflammation
The viruses come from a bite from an infected mosquito
VEEV, WEEV, and EEEV are all different forms of the alpha virus that causes brain inflammation
EEEV is the most fatal
There’s no FDA approved drug for any human alphavirus infection
If you’re lucky enough to survive one of these infections you will still have many neurological problems after
There have been 13 deaths from the EEEV virus this year already
Dr. Golden and her research team have stepped in to try and find different compounds that can help with these problems
They have made many different modifications to find something that could work
Came up with a compound called BDGR-49 that is:
Non toxic
About 80% reaches the brain
Plasma stability: ~65%
They found that if they give the compound to mice before infecting them with the virus, the mice have the best chance of survival
They eventually came up with a new compound called BDGR-164
It is very potent
All of the compound reaches the brain
Many mice that were treated with the drug after they were infected were surviving
They are hopeful to keep improving upon this compound
Antiparasitic Agent Development
Dr. Golden and her research team are working to interrupt the metabolism of the parasites
They are trying to to find a compound that would do this (to do this you would need to interfere within the glycosome)
One particular parasite they are trying to combat is a brain eating ameba
They have started experimenting with receptors that interfere with glucose
Dr. Golden and her different research teams use synthetic chemistry and medicinal biology to find different compounds to combat different types of viruses