Current Drug Targets - Volume 15, Issue 12, 2014

Plasmodium falciparum is one of the deadliest protozoan parasite species among those that cause malaria. Uncontrolled use of antimalarial drugs has resulted in evolutionary selection pressure favoring high levels of resistance to antimalarials; currently P.falciparum shows resistance to all classes of antimalarials. Therefore it is essential to identify novel drug targets, and design selective anti-malarials which can overcome r Read More

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) play important roles in regulating protein stability, trafficking, folding conformation, and functional activity. Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) protein mediates a distinct type of PTM called SUMOylation in which the SUMO protein is covalently ligated to the target protein and modifies its activities through a series of enzymatically-catalyzed reactions. SUMOylation regulates many cellular Read More

According to international guidelines, treatment of cervical cancer (CC) consists of surgery in early stages and of chemoradiation in locally advanced disease. Metastatic disease is usually treated with palliative chemotherapeutic regimens, but cytostatic drugs present significant side effects and show limited activity. Thus, the discovery of new anticancer agents, interfering with molecular targets expressed by the tum Read More

This review presents and discusses the current status and perspectives of leishmaniasis treatment, with a special focus on the use of proteinase inhibitors. The history of treatment development, the first- and second-choice modern drugs and the advantages and disadvantages of using proteinases inhibitors as leishmanicidal treatments are presented and discussed. The reports gathered herein confirm the potential usef Read More

Antibiotics remain the mainstay of treatment for infectious diseases, but the growing frequency of antibiotic resistance represents a major concern for healthcare worldwide. The use of antibiotics in recurrent infections raises other issues, such as their limitations for treating diverse microorganisms, deleterious effects on the microbiota of the patient and potential adverse effects. In recent years, progress has been Read More

Malaria is a devastating human parasitic disease that receives enhanced attention due to the emergence of resistance to traditional drugs. Thus, the search for new molecular targets is a major goal. PfAM1 is an aminopeptidase from Plasmodium falciparum, William H. Welch 1897, belonging to the M1 family of metalloproteases, which is a promising target of inhibitors to block the intra-erythrocytic stages of the parasite. Sinc Read More

Background: Breast cancer (BC), the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide, is currently diagnosed in about 1.4 million female patients annually. Approximately 10-20% of BC is represented by triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) which is aggressive, the prognosis is poor and patients cannot benefit from targeted treatment based on hormonal or HER2 receptors. For this reason, search for markers that can pr Read More