Fidele Ntie-Kang

• Habilitation
• Professor (Associate) and Head of Research Center at University of Buea

Recently, the search for new drugs against tuberculosis (TB) has been a hot topic and the search for new inhibitors against validated drug targets and pathways other than those currently targeted by known drugs is suggested to be the most promising way forward. Mycobacterium tuberculosis pantothenate synthetase (MTBPS) happens to be one of such tar...

Computer-aided drug design (CADD) often involves virtual screening (VS) of large compound datasets and the availability of such is vital for drug discovery protocols. We assess the bioactivity and "drug-likeness" of a relatively small but structurally diverse dataset (containing >1,000 compounds) from African medicinal plants, which have been teste...

In Cameroon herbs are traditionally used to meet health care needs and plans are on the way to integrate traditional medicine in the health care system, even though the plans have not been put into action yet. The country however has a rich biodiversity, with ~8,620 plant species, some of which are commonly used in the treatment of several microbia...

Background Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is a common endocrine malignancy with rising incidence and frequent recurrence, despite a generally favorable prognosis. Accurate recurrence prediction is critical for guiding post-treatment strategies. This study aimed to enhance predictive performance by refining feature engineering and evaluating a...

Onchocerciasis, caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus, remains a major public health challenge due to the limitations of ivermectin-based control strategies, thereby, highlighting the need for more innovative tools like vaccines. This study investigated the safety and immunogenicity of a novel multi-epitope chimeric antigen, OvMANE1 formu...

We evaluated 4,512 natural products from ConMedNP and SANCDB libraries for identification of potential Plasmodium falciparum L‐lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) inhibitors considering the virtual screening process. Extra precision virtual screening enabled the ranking of the top hundred hit molecules based on their docking properties. The selected hits...

Phytochemicals are natural products of plant origin and hold a promise for drug discovery because plants have been used traditionally to cure several diseases over the centuries. This is the case with medicinal plants from the genus Monodora, which are known for diverse traditional uses and diversity in compound classes identified from the differen...

Marburg virus (Marv) hemorrhagic fever is a sporadic and highly lethal disease endemic to several African countries , with recent outbreaks showing up to 90% mortality. The virus's pathogenicity is largely mediated by the multifunctional protein VP35, which enables immune evasion through interferon antagonism. Currently, there are no approved treat...

Indole–chalcone hybrids are a large group of compounds known for their excellent biological properties the help combat diverse pathogens. This study describes a rapid synthetic pathway for the synthesis of ten indole–chalcone hybrids, namely, 3(a–j), from 1-Boc-3-formylindole (1) and acetophenone derivatives (2), in a one-pot approach. This synthes...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has gained significant public health attention owing to its devastating effects on lives and livelihoods worldwide. Due to difficult access to vaccines in many developing countries and the inefficiency of vaccines in providing complete protection even with fully vaccinated persons, there...

The main goal of this research is to identify natural products from ConMedNP and SANCDB libraries targeting overexpressed Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERα) in breast cancer using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) methods. A protein (PDB ID: 1G50) was selected for its unique inhibitor and a specific binding pocket with amino acid residues co...

Indole-chalcone hybrids are a large group of compounds known for their excellent biological properties against diverse pathogens. The current research describes a rapid synthetic pathway for the synthesis of ten (10) indole-chalcone hybrids 3(a-j), from 1-Boc-3-formylindole (1) and acetophenone derivatives (2), in a one-pot approach. The Boc was de...

Background Croton oligandrus Pierre & Hutch is a tropical tree that grows in West and Central Africa, used in ethnomedicine to treat cancer, diabetes, headaches, convulsions, urinary diseases, and inflammatory diseases. As other Croton species have been observed to possess chemical compounds that target HIV latency-reversal, we hypothesized that th...

Antimicrobial pollution in Africa is escalating rapidly, threatening ecosystems and human health. Naturally occurring minerals, flora and microbial communities can support cost-effective and environmentally sustainable strategies to address this crisis and help achieve relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

Diseases caused by viruses are challenging to contain, as their outbreak and spread could be very sudden, compounded by rapid mutations, making the development of drugs and vaccines a continued endeavour that requires fast discovery and preparedness. Targeting viral infections with small molecules remains one of the treatment options to reduce tran...

Unpublished conference paper on the benefits of science leadership

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a debilitating tropical disease that causes significant eye and skin damage, afflicting millions worldwide. As global efforts shift from disease management to elimination, vaccines have become crucial supplementary tools. The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa (TOVA) Initiative was established in 2015, to advance...

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a debilitating tropical disease that causes significant eye and skin damage, afflicting millions worldwide. As global efforts shift from disease management to elimination, vaccines have become crucial supplementary tools. The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa (TOVA) Initiative was established in 2015, to advance...

Unlabelled: Gastric and duodenal ulcers are increasingly becoming global health burdens. The side effects of conventional treatments such as non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), antibiotics, and cytoprotective agents have necessitated the search for new medications. Plants are a rich source of active metabol...

J-Lat cells are derivatives of the Jurkat CD4+ T cell line that contain a non-infectious, inducible HIV provirus with a GFP tag. While these cells have substantially advanced our understanding of HIV latency, their use by many laboratories in low and middle-income countries is restricted by limited access to flow cytometry. To overcome this barrier...

Based on ethnomedicinal and chemotaxonomic records of Ficus plants, Ficussur Forssk was studied in the search for bioactive compounds. Eleven known compounds including mixture α ‐amyrin acetate and β ‐amyrin acetate (1 and 2), lupeol (3), 3β‐acetoxy‐olean‐12‐en‐11‐one (4), lupenyl acetate (5), taraxastan‐3,20‐diol (6), 3′‐ (3‐methylbut‐2‐enyl) bioc...

The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a global threat has driven the urgent need for the identification of bioactive molecules capable of controlling or completely eradicating this virus. Our group has been investigating isatin hybrids that block the binding of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and...

In this study, we screened novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP4) inhibitors from the ConMedNP library consisting of 3507 molecules. Interestingly, molecular docking, ADMET, and the anti-diabetic activity predictions suggest that three molecules, namely OTH_UD_XX06_1, GB19, and BMC_000104, have a high binding affinity toward DPP4. The molecular dynam...

Flavonoids based on the flavone 1–3 and a biflavanoid 4 with a flavan nucleus were isolated from Beilschmiedia obscura (Stapf). These compounds which include 5- hydroxy - 7,8-dimethoxyflavanone (5), (2 S,4 R)-5, 6,7-trimethoxyflavan- 4-ol (6), beilschmieflavonoid B (7), (2 R,3 S)-5,6,7-trimethoxyflavan-3-ol (8), as well as pipyahyine (9), (E,E)-1,6...

In this study, we screened novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP4) inhibitors from the ConMedNP library consisting of 3507 molecules. Interestingly, molecular docking, ADMET, and the anti-diabetic activity predictions suggest that three molecules, namely OTH_UD_XX06_1, GB19, and BMC_000104, have a high binding affinity toward DPP4. The molecular dynam...

Both tetrahydroisoquinolines (THIQs) and oxindoles (OXs) display a broad range of biological activities, including antiviral activity. They are, therefore, recognized as privileged scaffolds in drug discovery. Here, we describe the synthesis of spirofused tetrahydroisoquinoline–oxindole hybrids (spirooxindoles) and their evaluation as potential blo...

The emergence of diverse infections worldwide, which is a serious global threat to human existence, necessitates the urgent development of novel therapeutic candidates that can combat these diseases with efficacy. Molecular hybridization has been established as an efficient technique in designing bioactive molecules capable of fighting infections....

To find drugs against COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2, promising targets include the fusion of the viral spike with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as well as the main protease (Mpro). These proteins are responsible for viral entry and replication, respectively. We combined several state-of-the-art computational methods includin...

Onchocerciasis is a devastating tropical disease that causes severe eye and skin lesions. As global efforts shift from disease control to elimination, prophylactic/therapeutic vaccines have emerged as alternative elimination tools. Notably, Ov-RAL-2 and Ov-103 antigens have shown great promise in preclinical studies and plans are underway for clini...

Gastric and duodenal ulcers are increasingly becoming global health burdens. The side effects of conventional treatments such as non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), antibiotics, histamine H2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs), and cytoprotective agents have necessitated the search for new medications. Plants are a...

Hexokinases (Hks) and mitochondrial complex I (MCI) are involved in the energy metabolism of cells; glycolysis/fermentation and oxidative phosphorylation. Both Hks and MCI are known to play critical roles in either division of metabolic plasticity which enables tumor progression and proliferation in the presence of chemotherapies. Therefore, target...

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a global threat has driven the urgent need for the identification of bioactive molecules capable of controlling or completely eradicating this virus. In that light, our group has been investigating isatin hybrids that block the binding of the viral spike with the human angiotensin...

We report the outcomes of the second session of the free online open-access workshop "Computational Applications in Secondary Metabolite Discovery (CAiSMD) Fidele Ntie-Kang and Donatus B. Eni contributed equally to this work. 2022" that took place from 09 to 11 March 2022. The first session was held from 08 to 10 March 2021 and drew the attention o...

Isatin (indol-2,3-dione), a secondary metabolite of tryptophan, has been used as the core structure to design several compounds that have been tested and identified as potent inhibitors of apoptosis, potential antitumor agents, anticonvulsants, and antiviral agents. In this work, several analogs of isatin hybrids have been synthesized and character...

The emergence of diverse infections worldwide, which is a serious global threat to human existence, necessitate the urgent development of novel therapeutic candidates that can combat these diseases with efficacy. Isatin, a secondary metabolite from tryptophan is considered a privileged scaffold and favorable pharmacophore with a unique structural m...

Chemical prototypes with broad-spectrum antiviral activity are important toward developing new therapies that can act on both existing and emerging viruses. Binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor is required for cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2. Toward identifying new chemical leads that can...

Isatin (indol-2,3-dione), a secondary metabolite of tryptophan has been used as the core structure in the designation of several compounds that have been tested and identified as potent inhibitors of apoptosis, potential antitumor agents, anticonvulsants, and antiviral agents. In this work, several analogues of isatin hybrids have been synthesized...

The application of traditional medicine by humans for the treatment of ailments as well as improving the quality of life far outdates recorded history. To date, a significant percentage of humans, especially those living in developing/underprivileged communities still rely on traditional medicine for primary healthcare needs. In silico-based method...

In silico binding studies of four known plant-derived polyphenolic tetrameric stilbenoids, namely (-)-hopeaphenol (1), vaticanol B (2) and vatalbinoside A (3) and their monomeric derivative resveratrol (4), were identified from several plant species. The natural products 1-4 and several fragments of these compounds (5-7) were evaluated against the...

The rate of skin infections due to bacterial and fungal organisms is increasingly high. This has become a significant health problem in developed and developing countries and particularly in areas with high humidity and poor hygienic conditions. The aim of this study is to formulate a potential antifungal herbal ointment using methanolic extract an...

Cancer is a life-threatening disease that kills millions of people each year and despite the best efforts, it continues to resist full control and eradication [1]. Interestingly, Aurora-A kinase (a multifunctional protein that is highly implicated in cancer) is very important in the regulation of mitotic progression and if they are interrupted with...

Since December 2019, the world has been under the menace of the novel Coronavirus first reported in China [1]. Since then, all continents and most nations of the world have reported significant numbers in terms of morbidity and mortality. The consequent burden on the economic, educational, psychosocial and health sectors amongst others are on a glo...

We report the virtual screening, isolation, structure elucidation and in vitro evaluation of methylene chloride and methanol extract together with isolated compounds against the main protease and spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2. A preliminary virtual library of 453 natural products with tested activities against coronaviruses, was collected by sear...

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 as a global threat has driven the urgent need for the identification of bioactive molecules capable of controlling or completely eradicating this virus. The lack of clinically approved drugs to manage this infection has left scientists on their heels in search of lead compounds to target the infection. In that li...

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been raging around the world for more than three years and is responsible for profound economic and social disruptions, which have forced governments and many international organizations to adopt various measures to contain it. The purpose of this study was to determine molecules from the pan-African Natural Prod...

This project is focused on nature-based discovery of antiviral agents that target putative drug targets in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus (SARS-CoV-2) for which screening procedures have lately been established. The presenter has previously developed...

COVID-19 has been a major health menace and the leading cause of death to humanity in the last four years. To date, the search for treatments to handle the disease burden remains a great burden. On the other hand, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) undoubtedly causes severe damage to its host’s immune system, which in turn leads to the developm...

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes an incurable disease known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Management of this disease has been by the use of combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART), which suppresses HIV-1 below a level of detection in an individual. Despite the use of cARTs, HIV-1 appears to be dormant in some region...

Emerging viruses are still major threats to public health. Prophylactic vaccines are the most effective way to prevent virus infection; however, antivirals are still a major challenge due to continuous mutation in some viruses like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2) [1]. COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome...

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infection that attacks the body’s immune system, specifically, the white blood cells called CD4 cells. HIV destroys these cells, weakening a person’s immunity against opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis and fungal infections, severe bacterial infections, and some cancers. If left untreated, HIV...

Drug discovery is a complex, resource-heavy and collaborative discipline in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where resources, funding, and in-country expertise are lacking. A bespoke solution for researchers in LMICs is in high demand. Located within the University of Dundee, Scotland (UK), is a center that delivers training for researchers...

*Presenter’s Email: metugeclovis6@gmail.com The overall goal of the study is to isolate active pure compounds from the stem bark of Croton oligandrus P. & H. species, which may serve as new hits for drug development against HIV. One therapeutic strategy, frequently termed “shock-and-kill”, proposes the treatment of latent HIV-infected cells with l...

Viruses cause various human diseases, some of which become pandemic outbreaks (e,g, Ebola, HIV, COVID-19, etc). These diseases are affecting many countries in Tropical regions. Over the years, traditional medicine has been used for the prevention of diseases as well as for enhancement of the span and quality of life, thanks to the presence of secon...

COVID-19 has been the leading cause of death for the past four years and to date, it remains a serious threat to humanity. The search for drugs or vaccines to handle the burden caused by COVID-19 remains a great challenge. Interestingly, the spike protein has been scientifically reported to be one of the most important target proteins of SARS-CoV-2...

COVID-19 has been the leading cause of death for the past four years and to date, it remains a serious threat to humanity. The search for drugs or vaccines to handle the burden caused by COVID-19 remains a great challenge. Interestingly, the spike protein has been scientifically reported to be one of the most important target proteins of SARS-CoV-2...

What to expect: In 2 days, the participants of this hybrid workshop will take a survey of artificial intelligence, computational and medicinal chemistry-based approaches for drug discovery, with aspecial focus on the discovery antiviral agents. Experienced scientists will give talks (20 - 30 minutes), while students and early career scientists will...

Oxygen based heterocyclic moieties hold an ample range of therapeutic activities. Heterocyclic molecules are nominated as vital components of an extensive array of structural motifs with both biological and pharmaceutical significance. The oxygen-based scaffolds act as anticancer candidates and are also present in numerous phytomolecules viz; irino...

2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone of 5-chloroisatin (H 2 L) was synthesized and characterized by elemental and spectral (IR, electronic, Mass) analyses. The NMR spectrum of H 2 L indicated keto-enol tautomerism, with the keto form being more abundantin solution. H 2 L was found to selectively interfere with binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding...

Wound healing is a process through which skin maintains itself. Once a wound occurs, the inflammatory and proliferative stages are instigated in reaction to injury. It is established that wound restorative comprises four stages including haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. The amelioration of wound healing is very challenging...

Background The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring...

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to brin...

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to brin...

The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together i...

Current antiviral drug discovery efforts face many challenges, including development of new drugs during an outbreak and coping with drug resistance due to rapidly accumulating viral mutations. Emerging artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) methods can accelerate anti-infective drug discovery and have the potential to reduce overall...

5-fluorouracil and analogs are used in the treatment of many solid tumours. However, there are many cases of resistance and high toxicity associated with 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. Repurposing FDA drugs against human thymidylate synthase revealed a number of FDA drugs that have a potential to be further developed for the treatment of various canc...

Type III beta phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI4KIIIβ) is the only clinically validated drug target in Plasmodium kinases and therefore a critical target in developing novel drugs for malaria. Current PI4KIIIβ inhibitors have solubility and off-target problems. Here we set out to identify new Plasmodium PI4K ligands that could serve as leads for th...

Linamarin has been reported to have anticancer activities; however, its extraction and isolation using different solvents yield a low amount. Therefore, understanding the physical properties, such as solvents’ solubility, membrane permeability and lipophilicity and how they are associated with different solvents, is a paramount topic for discussion...

A free online workshop

New potent 3-dehydroquinic acid (AQs) inhibitors of 3-dehydroquinate dehydratase (dehydroquinase type II) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtDHQ2) were obtained by using structure-based molecular design via the in situ modification of the template inhibitor AQ1 within the MtDHQ2-AQ1 crystal structure (PDB ID: 2XB8), in order to describe the interacti...

Plasmodium species that cause malaria, a disease responsible for about half a million deaths per annum despite concerted efforts to combat it. The causative agent depends on type III beta phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PPI4K) during the development of merozoite. PPI4K is the only clinically validated Plasmodium kinase so far and its inhibitors are...