"Mechanistic analysis on the photochemistry of the anti-inflammatory drug Etoricoxib in aqueous solution. Cytotoxicity of photoproducts"
Cacciari, R.D; Menis, F; Biondi, M.A; Reynoso, A; Sabini, C; Montejano, H.A; Biasutti, M.A & Reynoso, E. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry (2020), 390, 112331.
Research in the FQyFBA Group
Photodegradation of emerging contaminants. Mechanism and kinetics. Photochemical products. Evaluation of cytotoxicity.
The group focuses on the study of direct and sensitized photolysis by UV-visible solar irradiation of pharmaceuticals considered as emerging pollutants, specially antibiotics, chemotherapeutics and anti-inflammatory drugs of extensive use. Experiments are carried out under different conditions (oxygen concentration, pH, ROS scavengers) and through the use of a wide variety of static and dynamic spectroscopic techniques in order to discern the photodegradation kinetics and the mechanism involved in these photoinduced processes. By using chromatographic techniques such as TLC, HPLC and GC-MS, photoproducts are separated and identified. Cell viability assays such as neutral red uptake and metabolic reduction of MTT allow for the evaluation of the cytotoxicity of the generated photoproducts, over healthy and diseased eukaryotic cell lines. Ecotoxicological assays such Artemia sp test allow for the study of the toxicity of photoproducts in natural aquatic environments. Microbiological tests such as antibiograms allow for the evaluation of the antimicrobial capacity of antibiotics after the irradiation process on bacterial strains of clinical importance. The influence of micellar aggregates on the photodegradation processes of drugs is also evaluated.
Effect of solar irradiation on bioremediating enzymes. Evaluation of the photodegradation process. Impact on the structure and catalytic activity. Photoprotection methods.
The group investigates enzyme photodegradation processes with possible applications in the biological remediation of environmental contaminants.
Stationary photolysis experiments and temporal resolution techniques allow us to elucidate the photodegradation mechanism, as well as the participation of molecular oxygen in photoprocesses.
Enzyme activity is quantitatively assessed before and after photolysis using polyphenolic environmental contaminants as substrates.
The use of different techniques such as SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and circular dichroism spectroscopy allow the effect of irradiation on the structure of enzymes to be evaluated.
The influence of nano-compartmentalization and enzymatic immobilization systems on photodegradation and catalytic activity in order to photoprotect enzymes is also evaluated.