Korea University · Medicine
Professor Youngjoo Byun's research lab specializes in the development of novel boron-containing therapeutic agents for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and the design of small molecules targeting bacterial quorum sensing and allergic inflammatory pathways. The lab focuses on synthesizing and optimizing 3-carboranyl thymidine analogues (3CTAs) as tumor-selective boron delivery agents that exploit the upregulation of thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) in cancer cells. Additionally, the lab investigates small molecule inhibitors of virulence regulators in *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* and TSLP signaling pathways to combat antibiotic-resistant infections and allergic diseases. The research integrates medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and computational modeling to advance targeted therapeutics.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Novel 3-carboranyl thymidine analogues (3CTAs) were synthesized as potential boron delivery agents for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). This library includes six zwitterionic NH(3)(+)-nido-m-carborane-substituted thymidine analogues (Thds) and the corresponding neutral NH(2)-closo-m-carborane-substituted counterparts. All compounds of this library were good substrates for recombinant human thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) with phosphorylation rates up to 89% relative to that of Thd. One compound ou
3-[5-{2-(2,3-Dihydroxyprop-1-yl)-o-carboran-1-yl}pentan-1-yl]thymidine (compound 1, N5-2OH) belongs to a novel class of boron delivery agents for neutron capture therapy, which was designated 3-carboranylthymidine analogue (3CTAs). Two shorter and more convenient synthetic routes were developed for the synthesis of 1 in the 10B-enriched form, which is necessary for its preclinical and clinical evaluation in neutron irradiation studies. For more insight on structure-activity relationships, variou
<i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>P. aeruginosa</i>) is an opportunistic human pathogen that forms biofilms and produces virulence factors <i>via</i> quorum sensing (QS). Blocking the QS system in <i>P. aeruginosa</i> is an excellent strategy to reduce biofilm formation and the production of virulence factors. RhlR plays an essential role in the QS system of <i>P. aeruginosa</i>. We synthesized 55 analogues based on the chemical structure of 4-gingerol and evaluated their RhlR inhibitory activit
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays an important role in the differentiation and proliferation of Th2 cells, resulting in eosinophilic inflammation and numerous allergic diseases. Baicalein (1), a major component of Scutellaria baicalensis, was found to be the first small molecule to block TSLP signaling pathways. It inhibited effectively eosinophil infiltration in house dust mite-induced and ovalbumin-challenged mouse models. Structure-activity relationship studies identified compound 11a
One category of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents that has received extensive attention during recent years is 3-carboranyl thymidine analogues (3CTAs). These molecules are phosphorylated to the corresponding 5'-monophosphates by human thymidine kinase 1 (TK1), an enzyme that is up-regulated in dividing malignant cells. Thus, these phosphorylated molecules are selectively entrapped in tumor cells due to the acquired negative charge. This review will analyze design strategies applied fo
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