Current Drug Targets - Volume 16, Issue 7, 2015

Angiogenesis is one of the hallmarks of cancer, including brain tumors. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and their receptors are of utmost importance in the complex interaction between pro- and anti-angiogenic factors, and have a crucial role in tumor angiogenesis. Up to date, targeting the VEGF pathway with specific drugs has yielded interesting results in oncology. In particular bevacizumab (Bev), a hum Read More

On account of the ever increasing resistance of M.tuberculosis strains to orthodox therapy regimens, the task of combating tuberculosis becomes even more challenging. Therefore, there arises a need to isolate new drug targets and subsequently design specific inhibitors for the same. In bacteria, algae, plants and fungi, the synthesis of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) is catalyzed by Acetohydroxyacid Synthases (AH Read More

Human proteins are subjected to more than 200 known post-translational modifications (PTMs) (e.g., phosphorylation, glycosylation, ubiquitination, S-nitrosylation, methylation, Nacetylation, and citrullination) and these PTMs can alter protein structure and function with consequent effects on the multitude of pathways necessary for maintaining the physiological homeostasis. When dysregulated, however, the enzymes that catalyz Read More

Cancer has been cursed for human beings for long time. Millions people lost their lives due to cancer. Despite of the several anticancer drugs available, cancer cannot be cured; especially at the late stages without showing any side effect. Heterocyclic compounds exhibit exciting medicinal properties including anticancer. Some market selling heterocyclic anticancer drugs include 5-flourouracil, methortrexate, doxorubicin, d Read More

GABAA receptors containing the α5 subunit (α5GABAARs) are found mainly in the hippocampus where they mediate a tonic chloride leak current and contribute a slow component to GABAergic inhibitory synaptic currents. Their inhibitory effect on the excitability of hippocampal neurons at least partly explains why changes in the level of activity of α5GABAARs affect cognition, learning and memory. These receptors have be Read More

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are potent cholesterol- lowering drugs which also possess beneficial antioxidant, antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antiexcitotoxic effects. In addition, statins have proven neuroprotective effects in several neurological diseases: stroke, cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury. Relati Read More

A major breakthrough in understanding the steps and signalling that drives the HCV to reach a full life-cycle has been achieved by in vitro models that have facilitated elevated virus production, resulting in the discovery of pathways and factors involved in virus entry, translation and replication. The HCV enters host cells through binding of its envelope glycoproteins to cell receptors, followed by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and Read More

Besides being an important source of fuel and structural components of biological membranes, free fatty acids (FFAs) are known to display a wide variety of roles that include modulation of receptor signaling and regulation of gene expression among many. FFAs play a significant role in maintaining metabolic homeostasis by activating specific G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in pancreatic β cells, immune cells, white Read More