Abdelbasset Farahat, PharmBS, MS, PhD

Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry

Abdelbasset Farahat, PharmBS, MS, PhD

Phone: (916) 686-3529
Abdelbasset.Farahat@cnsu.edu

About

Dr. Abdelbasset Farahat is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences at California Northstate University. In 2002, Dr. Farahat received a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Mansoura University Egypt, and then in 2006, he received a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Mansoura University Egypt. In 2010 Dr. Farahat received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry after doing research at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. His Ph.D. research focused on the design and synthesis of dicationic compounds to be used as antimalarial and antitrypanosomal agents.

In 2011, Dr. Farahat joined the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University as Assistant Professor. In 2012 Dr. Farahat joined Boykin’s laboratory at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. As a Postdoctoral researcher, then research scientist and team leader. In 2018 Dr. Farahat joined Kennesaw State University as Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. In 2018 Dr. Farahat was awarded The Encouragement State Prize in Medical Sciences from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt. Dr. Farahat has published 67 publications in high impact peer-viewed journals and is an inventor of three Patents.

Research Interests

Dr. Farahat’s research focuses on medicinal chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry projects. My focus is being primarily on targeting the DNA minor-groove as an approach for antiparasitic drug discovery. This work is being mostly directed towards the discovery of antimalarial, antitrypanosomal, antileishmanial, antinaeglerial and antiacanthamoebal drugs. More recently, my research has focused on developing heterocyclic dications for DNA minor groove binding which induce topological effects, bind into either the major or minor grooves, in specific parasitic sequences to generate a new mode of therapeutic activity. This work has led to new investigations that focus on the development of modular base pair recognition units for a variety of mixed DNA sequences. My previous work has yielded several cationic modules that recognize AT sequences quite well and are well known to enter cells and thus can potentially be developed for drugs against many diseases.

My recent work has identified two G-recognition modules and we are working on expanding the number of readily accessible G- recognition units such that modules may be combined to recognize a broad array of DNA mixed base pair sequences. A long-term goal of this proposed research is to develop an entirely new class of anticancer drugs that can target DNA-protein complexes, such as transcription factors that have previously been considered "undruggable" targets. Recently I was working on the design and synthesis of new dicationic molecules to target Naegleria Fowleri which is a pathogenic free-living amoeba that causes the acute fatal disease known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The anti-PAM effort began with lead compounds with IC50 values between 1 and 2 micromolar and through optimization efforts have produced several compounds with IC50 values less than 30 nM. Six of these highly active compounds have been made in gram quantities and are currently being evaluated in an in vivo animal model for PAM.

Publications (most recent 20 out of 67)

  • Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Pu Guo, Hadir Shoeib, Ananya Paul, David W. Boykin, W. David Wilson. Small Size Sequence-sensitive Compounds for Specific Recognition of G·C Base Pair in DNA Minor Groove. Chemistry A European Journal 2020, Accepted Manuscript.
  • Ryo Mizuta, Juliette M Devos, Theyencheri Narayanan, Mizar Oliva, Melissa Gray, Jessica Webster, Wai‐Li Ling, Adam Round, Deeksha Munnur, Estelle Mossou, Abdelbasset Farahat, David W Boykin, W David Wilson, Stephen Neidle, Ralf Schweins, Patrice Rannou, Michael Haertlein, V Trevor Forsyth, Edward Mitchell. Hierarchical Nanotube Self-Assembly of DNA Minor Groove-Binding Ligand DB921 via Alkali Halide Triggering. Macromolecular Symposia. 2019, 386 (1)
  • Sabine Depauw, Melanie Lambert, Samy Jambon, Ananya Paul, Paul Peixoto, Raja Nhili, Laura Marongiu, Martin Figeac, Christelle Dassi, Charles Paul-Constant, Benjamin Billoré, Arvind Kumar, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Mohamed A Ismail, Ekaterina Mineva, Daniel P. Sweat, Chad E Stephens, David W. Boykin, W. David Wilson, and Marie-Hélène David- Cordonnier. Heterocyclic Diamidine DNA ligands as HOXA9 Transcription Factor Inhibitors: Design, Molecular Evaluation and Cellular Consequences in HOXA9-Dependant Leukemia Cell Model. J. Med. Chem. 2019, 62 (3), 1306–1329.
  • Erlitzki, Noa; Farahat, Abdelbasset A.; Kumar, Arvind; Boykin, David W.; Poon, Gregory M. K. DNA recognition by linear indole-biphenyl DNA minor groove ligands. Biophysical Chemistry, 2019, 245, 6-16.
  • Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Mohamed A. Ismail, Arvind Kumar, Tanja Wenzler, Reto Brun, Ananya Paul, W. David Wilson and David W. Boykin. Exploration of DAPI Analogues: Indole- and benzimidazole Bichalcophenes: Synthesis, DNA binding and Antiparasitic activity. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2018, 143, 1540-1546.
  • Pu Guo, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Ananya Paul, Narinder K. Harika, David W. Boykin, W. David Wilson. Compound Shape Effects in Minor Groove Binding Affinity and Specificity for Mixed Sequence DNA. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018, 140, 44, 14761-796.
  • Mohammed A. M. Massoud, Waleed A. Bayoumia,, Abdelbasset A. Farahat,, Magda A. El-Sayed, Basem Mansour. 2-Chloroquinoline-3-carbaldehydes: synthesis and reactions (2013-2017), ARKIVOC (Gainesville, FL, United States) 2018, (1Spec.Iss.), 244-287.
  • Mizuta, Ryo; Devos, Juliette; Webster, Jessica; Ling, Wai Li; Theyencheri, Narayanan; Round, Adam; Munnur, Deeksha; Mossou, Estelle; Farahat, Abdelbasset ; Boykin, David; Wilson, W; Neidle, Stephen; Schweins, Ralf; RANNOU, Patrice; Haertlein, Michael; Forsyth, V; Mitchell, Edward. Dynamic self-assembly of DNA minor groove-binding ligand DB921 into nanotubes triggered by an alkali halide. Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 5550-5558.
  • Roberto Simone, Rubika Balendra, Thomas G Moens, Elisavet Preza, Katherine M Wilson, Amanda Heslegrave, Nathan S Woodling, Teresa Niccoli, Javier Gilbert‐Jaramillo, Samir Abdelkarim, Emma L Clayton, Mica Clarke, Marie‐Therese Konrad, Andrew J Nicoll, Jamie S Mitchell, Andrea Calvo, Adriano Chio, Henry Houlden, James M Polke, Mohamed A Ismail, Chad E Stephens, Tam Vo, Abdelbasset A Farahat, W David Wilson, David W Boykin, Henrik Zetterberg, Linda Partridge, Selina Wray, Gary Parkinson, Stephen Neidle, Rickie Patani, Pietro Fratta, Adrian M Isaacs. G‐quadruplex‐binding small molecules ameliorate C9orf72 FTD/ALS pathology in vitro and in vivo. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 2018, 10, 22-31.
  • Samar S. Tawfik, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Magda A.-A El-Sayed, Atif S. Tantawy, Ola Bagato, and Mohamed A. Ali. Synthesis and anti-influenza activity of novel thiadiazole, oxadiazole and triazole based scaffolds. Letters in Drug Design and Discovery, 2018, 15, 363-374.
  • April C Joice, Sihyung Yang, Abdelbasset A Farahat, Heidi Meeds, Mei Feng, Junan Li, David W Boykin, Michael Zhuo Wang, Karl A Werbovetz. Antileishmanial efficacy and pharmacokinetics of DB766-azole combinations. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 2018, 62, e01129-17.
  • Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Arvind Kumar, Martial Say, Tanja Wenzler, Reto Brun, Ananya Paul, W. David Wilson and David W. Boykin. Exploration of DAPI Analogues: Synthesis,Antitrypanosomal activity, DNA binding and Fluorescence properties, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2017. 128, 70-78.
  • Noa Erlitzki, Kenneth Huang, Suela Xhani, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Arvind Kumar, David W. Boykin, Gregory M.K. Poon. Investigation of the electrostatic and hydration properties of DNA minor groove-binding by a heterocyclic diamidine by osmotic pressure Biophysical Chemistry, 2017, 231, 95-104.
  • Cristiane França da Silva, Denise da Gama Jaen Batista, Julianna Siciliano de Araújo, Marcos Meuser Batista, Edézio Ferreira Cunha-Junior, Eduardo Caio Torres-Santos, Chad E. Stephens, Moloy Banerjee, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Senol Akay, Mary K. Fisher ,David
    W. Boykin and Maria de Nazaré Correia Soeiro. Phenotypic evaluation and in silico ADMET properties of novel arylimidamides in acute mouse models of Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Drug Design Development and Therapy, 2017, 11, 1095-1105.
  • Gamal A. El-Hiti, Bakr F. Abdel-Wahab, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Ghada E. A. Awad. Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Some Novel Substituted 3-(Thiophen-2- yl)pyrazole- based Heterocycles. Letters in Drug Design and Discovery, 2017, 14, 1316-1323.
  • Aline Silva da Gama Nefertiti, Marcos Meuser Batista, Patrícia Bernardino da Silva, Eduardo Caio Torres-Santos, Edezio f Cunha-Júnior, Julius green, Arvind Kumar, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, David Wilson Boykin, Maria de Nazare Correia Soeiro. Anti- parasitic effect of novel amidines against Trypanosoma cruzi: phenotypic and in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity analysis. Parasitology Open, 2017, 3, e 5, 1-8.
  • Bakr F Abdel-Wahab, Abdelbasset A Farahat, Mohamed S Bekheit. Synthetic profile of thiadiazoloquinazolines. Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements. 2017, 192, 1165-1170.
  • Iléana Antony-Debré, Joana Leite, Ananya Paul, Hye Mi Kim, Arvind Kumar, Abdelbasset A Farahat, Boris Bartholdy1, Swathi-Rao Narayanagari, Kelly Mitchell, Luis A Carvajal, Jiahao Chen, Ioannis Mantzaris, Amit Verma, Britta Will1, David W Boykin, W. David Wilson, Gregory M. K. Poon, Ulrich Steidl. Pharmacological inhibition of the transcription factor PU. 1 in leukemia. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2017, 127, 4297- 4313.
  • Shaimaa A. Morsy, Abdelbasset A. Farahat, Magda N.A. Nasr, Atif S. Tantawy. Synthesis, molecular modeling and anticancer activity of new coumarin containing compounds. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal. 2017, 25, 873-883.
  • 20- Pu Guo, Ananya Paul, Arvind Kumar, Narinder K Harika, Siming Wang, Abdelbasset A Farahat, David W Boykin, W David Wilson. A modular design for minor groove binding and recognition of mixed base pair sequences of DNA. Chemical Communication, 2017, 53, 10406-10409.