RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Multi-target withaferin-A analogues as promising anti-kinetoplastid agents through the programmed cell death A1 San Nicol´as Hern´andez, Desir´ee A1 Hern´ández Álvarez, Eduardo A1 Bethencourt- Estrella, Carlos Javier A1 L´ópez Arencibia, Atteneri A1 Sifaoui, Inés A1 López Bazzocchi, Isabel A1 Lorenzo Morales, Jacob A1 Jiménez Díaz, Ignacio Antonio A1 Piñero Barroso, José Enrique K1 Withaferin A analogues K1 Leishmaniasis K1 Chagas disease K1 Chemotherapy K1 Apoptosis-like K1 Autophagy AB problem. The harsh reality of these infective diseases is the absence of effective and safe therapies. In thisframework, natural products play an important role in overcoming the current need to development new antiparasiticagents. The present study reports the synthesis, antikinetoplastid screening, mechanism study offourteen withaferin A derivatives (2-15). Nine of them (2-6, 8-10 and 12) showed a potent dose-dependentinhibitory effect on the proliferation of Leishmania amazonensis and L. donovani promastigotes and Trypanosomacruzi epimastigotes with IC50 values ranging from 0.19 to 24.01 μM. Outstandingly, the fully acetylatedderivative 10 (4,27-diacetylwithaferin A) was the most potent compound showing IC50 values of 0.36, 2.82 and0.19 μM against L. amazonensis, L. donovani and T. cruzi, respectively. Furthermore, analogue 10 exhibitedapproximately 18 and 36-fold greater antikinetoplastid activity, on L. amazonensis and T. cruzi, than the referencedrugs. The activity was accompanied by significantly lower cytotoxicity on the murine macrophage cell line.Moreover, compounds 2, 3, 5-7, 9 and 10 showed more potent activity than the reference drug against theintracellular amastigotes forms of L. amazonensis and T.cruzi, with a good selectivity index on a mammalian cellline. In addition, withaferin A analogues 3, 5-7, 9 and 10 induce programmed cell death through a process ofapoptosis-like and autophagy. These results strengthen the anti-parasitic potential of withaferin A-related steroidsagainst neglected tropical diseases caused by Leishmania spp. and T. cruzi parasites YR 2023 FD 2023 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/35875 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/35875 LA en DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 10-may-2024