Editorial [ Hot Topic: Medicinal Chemistry of Novel Therapeutics (Guest Editor: Tanaji Talele) ]

Medicinal chemistry is a highly rewarding field of study, which essentially provides novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of a variety of human diseases. I am privileged to serve as guest editor and present this intellectually stimulating issue highlighting the medicinal chemistry advancements in critically important health problems such as alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hepatitis C virus infection, and intractable chronic pain. Kharkar and Dutta present a review on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). They have specifically discussed interactions of redox-active transition metals Cu2+, Zn2+ and Fe3+ in the central nervous system (CNS) with metal-binding proteins such as amyloid-β (Aβ), neuromelanin, etc., leading to increased protein aggregation and oxidative stress followed by initiation/progression of neurodegenerative disorders. They have also provided an in-depth review on metal-protein attenuating compounds (MPACs) such as Clioquinol (CQ) as an emerging therapeutic approach leading to restoration of metal homeostasis, decreased oxidative stress and thereby reversing or slowing CNS disease progression. In this issue, Zito et al., present a thorough review on the chemicals used in the current treatment of type 2 diabetes and discuss some potentially viable, promising targets in the management of this metabolic syndrome, with a special mention to some naturally occurring bioactive compounds. They have also described detailed pharmacological treatment options for type 2 diabetes with a focus on: (1) insulin secretagogues, (2) insulin sensitizers, (3) dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors, (4) biguanides, (5) α-glucosidase inhibitors and (6) drugs in development. The guest editor of this issue provides an extensive review on structure-based insights on multiple allosteric pockets of HCV NS5B polymerase (a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCV infections) along with detailed structure-activity relationships of several novel nonnucleoside chemotypes binding to different allosteric pockets. This review also addresses potential difficulties surrounding the discovery of future nonnucleoside inhibitors (NNIs) targeted to different allosteric pockets of HCV NS5B and to HCV NS5B from different genotypes. After providing a brief overview of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) superfamily of ion channels, Korlipara focuses the discussion on modulation of TRP Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel, a subject of intense scrutiny by several major pharmaceutical companies over the past decade. The author describes the endogenous and exogenous agents that serve to stimulate the TRPV1 channel and chronicles the highlights in the development of various chemical classes of TRPV1 antagonists. A discussion on the prevailing knowledge regarding the binding sites of the TRPV1 ligands is provided. This review also discusses the potential applications of TRPV1 receptor ligands, particularly, as novel pain therapeutics. As a guest editor, I would like to deeply thank all the contributing authors of this issue for their valuable time and effort. My special thanks also goes to all the experts who have accepted to act as referees of the articles. Their thorough work and criticism have contributed to the success of this issue. Finally I would like to extend personal thanks to Ms. Samreen Laeeq, Manager publications, Bentham Science Publishers for her painstaking cooperation during the entire process of bringing this issue to fruition.