Bitopic A1 Adenosine Receptor Ligands as Cardioprotective Agents

Adenosine is a naturally occurring molecule that is found in many living systems that can be used as to slow rapid heartbeat and other ailments. Its efficient use as a medication depends on adenosine receptors present on many tissues within the human body. This family of receptors consist of four subtypes with the A1AR subtype being an important therapeutic target known to stimulate protective effects in heart tissue. However, adenosine can have unfavourable side effects. Hence, this project is concerned with the synthesis of chemical derivatives that mimic the activity of adenosine while minimizing or eliminating the deleterious side effects. One fragment of these targeted ‘drug-like’ molecules of interest are identical to adenosine and are linked to a different molecular fragment that is responsible for its desired biological activity and pharmacological effect. This current project aims to further understand the structure-activity relationships of a prototypical compound already prepared in our laboratories and to identify more ‘drug-like’ derivatives.

Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Singer

Student:

Partner:

Monash University (Parkville, Australia)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Saint Mary's University

Program: