Current Drug Targets - Volume 17, Issue 10, 2016

Current medical literature acknowledges that embryonic micro-environment is able to suppress tumor development. Administering carcinogenic substances during organogenesis in fact leads to embryonic malformations, but not to offspring tumor growth. Once organogenesis has ended, administration of carcinogenic substances causes a rise in offspring tumor development. These data indicate that cancer can be conside Read More

Tumor stroma (TS) plays relevant roles in all steps of cancer development. We here address several fundamental aspects related with the interaction between cancer cells and their stromal counterparts. Dissecting these players is of pivotal importance to understand oncogenesis, immunoescape and drug resistance. In addition, this better comprehension will allow the introduction of novel and more effective thera Read More

Historically, antiestrogen is the first targeted therapy used in breast cancer treatment. In fact, its rationale lies in the molecular pathways elucidated by basic research. In estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha positive metastatic breast cancer patients, hormone-therapy remains the first option of treatment. While tamoxifen concomitant with suppression of ovarian function with luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) ag Read More

Cancer cachexia is a debilitating paraneoplastic wasting syndrome characterized by skeletal muscle depletion and unintentional weight loss. It affects up to 50-80% of patients with cancer and directly accounts for one-quarter of cancer-related deaths due to cardio-respiratory failure. Muscle weakness, one of the hallmarks of this syndrome, has been postulated to be due to a combination of muscle breakdown, dysfun Read More

A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) control the localization of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) by tethering PKA to distinct cellular compartments. Through additional direct proteinprotein interactions with PKA substrates and other signaling molecules they form multi-protein complexes. Thereby, AKAPs regulate the access of PKA to its substrates in a temporal and spatial manner as well as the local crosstalk o Read More

Recent advances in genetic engineering and pharmaceutical biotechnology have made possible to combat life-threatening diseases with efficient delivery of therapeutic proteins. These advancements have increased the significance of therapeutic proteins in pharmaceutical market, but their therapeutic delivery to the targeted site is still a major obstacle to achieve desired therapeutic outcomes. In most cases, majority of the Read More

Progesterone receptor membrane components 1 and 2, neudesin, and neuferricin belong to the membraneassociated progesterone receptor (MAPR) family. Recently, sex steroid membrane receptors have gained attention because of their potential involvement in sex hormone-mediated rapid non-genomic effects, which cannot currently be explained by the genomic action of nuclear receptors. Progesterone may increase Read More

Current efforts in design and characterization of drugs often rely on the structure of their protein targets. However, a large fraction of proteins lack unique 3-D structures and exist as highly dynamic structural ensembles. These intrinsically disordered proteins are involved in pathogenesis of various human diseases and are highly abundant in eukaryotes. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the current druggable human pr Read More

Inflammation is an important pathogenic mechanism in chronic heart failure (HF). The perpetuation of the inflammatory response in this syndrome may result either from excessive activation of proinflammatory cascades or disturbances in the resolution of inflammation. However, although cardiovascular research has extensively investigated the proinflammatory processes involved in chronic HF pathophysiology, the mecha Read More