Este trabalho descreve a padronização de metodologia de análise CLAE para identificação e separação dos aminoácidos glicosilados (blocos de construção) 3, 4, 7 e 8, e seus respectivos precursores. Os aminoácidos glicosilados, contendo unidades de açúcar beta-D-GlcNAc (3 e 7) O-ligadas a aminoácidos de treonina estão envolvidos em eventos de sinalização celular, e os correspondentes isômeros 4 e 8, contendo unidades de alfa-D-GlcNAc, estão relacionados a O-glicanas encontradas em mucinas do parasita Trypanosoma cruzi. A metodologia desenvolvida é vantajosa e eficiente, pois permite a análise de misturas reacionais brutas, evitando exaustivos processos de purificação.

This work describes the standardization of HPLC analysis methodology for the identification and separation of the glycosylated amino acids (building blocks) 3, 4, 7 and 8 and their respective precursors. The glycosylated amino acids containing the sugar units beta-D-GlcNAc (3 and 7) O-linked to threonine amino acids are involved in cellular signalling events, and the correspondent isomers 4 and 8, possessing alpha-D-GlcNAc units are related to O-glycans found in mucins of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The developed methodology is advantageous and efficient as it permits the analysis of crude reaction mixtures, avoiding exhaustive purification processes.

Molecular Modeling is an important tool in drug design and it is very useful to predict biological activity from a library of compounds. A wide variety of computer programs and methods have been developed to visualize the tridimensional geometry and calculate physical properties of drugs. In this work, we describe a practical approach of molecular modeling as a powerful tool to study structure-activity relationships of drugs, including some antibacterials, hormones, cholinergic and adrenergic agents. At first, the students learn how to draw 3D structures and use them to perform conformational and molecular analysis. Thus, they compare drugs with similar pharmacological activity by superimposing one structure on the top of another and evaluate the geometry and physical properties.