Current Drug Targets - Volume 21, Issue 7, 2020

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and is part of a massive and growing health care burden that is destroying the cognitive function of more than 50 million individuals worldwide. Today, therapeutic options are limited to approaches with mild symptomatic benefits. The failure in developing effective drugs is attributed to, but not limited to the highly heterogeneous nature of AD Read More

The major proteases that constitute the fibrinolysis system are tightly regulated. Protease inhibitors target plasmin, the protease responsible for fibrin degradation, and the proteases that convert plasminogen into plasmin, including tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). A second mechanism by which fibrinolysis is regulated involves exosite interactions, which localize plasmin Read More

Background and Objectives: Lymphatic filariasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with filarial worms that are transmitted through mosquito bites. Globally, 120 million people are infected, with nearly 40 million people disfigured and disabled by complications such as severe swelling of the legs (elephantiasis) or scrotum (hydrocele). Current treatments (ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine) have limited effects on Read More

Background: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease associated with several clinical manifestations, including cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral forms. As currently available drugs have some limitations (toxicity, resistance, among others), the target-based identification has been an important approach to develop new leads against leishmaniasis. The present study aims to identify targets involved in the pharmacologi Read More

Gastric cancer (GC) is biologically and genetically heterogeneous with complex carcinogenesis at the molecular level. Despite the application of multiple approaches in the GC treatment, its 5-year survival is poor. A major limitation of anti-cancer drugs application is intrinsic or acquired resistance, especially to chemotherapeutical agents. It is known that the effectiveness of chemotherapy remains debatable and varies a Read More

micro (mi)-RNAs are vital regulators of multiple processes including insulin signaling pathways and glucose metabolism. Pancreatic β-cells function is dependent on some miRNAs and their target mRNA, which together form a complex regulative network. Several miRNAs are known to be directly involved in β-cells functions such as insulin expression and secretion. These small RNAs may also play significant roles in the fate of β-cel Read More