Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 10, Issue 22, 2003

Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) represent a family of enzymes that compete with histone acetyltranferases (HATs) to modulate chromatin structure and regulate transcriptional activity via changes in the acetylation status of nucleosomal histones. The opposing functions of HATs and HDACs in both activating and repressing transcription by controlling the tightness of nucleosomal integrity, reflect the regulatory processes that ar Read More

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes in the regulation of gene expression. By maintaining the dynamic equilibrium of the acetylation status of highly conserved lysine residues on histones, they regulate chromatin remodeling and gene expression. A link between aberrant HDAC activity and cancer has been widely reported and HDAC inhibitors have been shown to inhibit the proliferation of human tumor cell lines Read More

Trichostatin A (TSA) is a Streptomyces metabolite that causes differentiation of murine erythroleukemia cells as well as specific inhibition of the cell cycle of some lower eukaryotes and mammalian cells. The targeted molecule of TSA has been shown by genetic and biochemical analyses to be histone deacetylases (HDACs). Histone acetylation is a key modification to control transcription, and HDACs are profoundly involved in p Read More

There is a currently growing interest in the development of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACs) as anticancer agents. Histone deacetylases are critically important in the functional regulation of gene transcription as well as in chromatin structure remodeling. A number of small molecule inhibitors of HDAC, such as the naturally occurring trichostatin A (TSA), as well as synthetic compounds, such as suberoylanilide hydroxa Read More

Histone deacetylase inhibitors have generated significant interest as anti-cancer agents due to their ability to cause growth arrest, terminal differentiation and / or apoptosis in carcinoma cells. Abbott entered this area after the serendipitous discovery of the biaryl hydroxamate A-161906 in a TGFβ mimetic screen and the subsequent identification of this compound as an inhibitor of selected HDACs. The complex biology of Read More

The natural products trapoxin B and trichostatin A, as well as the novel marine natural product psammaplin A (PSMA) were found in a cell-based screen for compounds that induced the expression of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p21waf1. The mechanism of p21waf1 induction for these compounds was via histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition. Of these compounds, PSMA was of interest because of its novel structu Read More

Lead identification and optimization is always a challenge to the medicinal chemists in drug discovery. Numbers of simple to complex and smaller to bigger organic compounds are prepared to meet the screening purpose of biological targets. Conventional solution phase synthetic methodologies are lacking the speed to run along with the need of medicinally interesting compounds due to their long reaction time, tedious work-up Read More

Since their introduction as bilayer-forming synthetic compounds in the eighties, dioctadecyldimethylammonium (DODA) and dihexadecylphosphate (DHP) salts have found many uses in strategic, applied areas. In particular, DODA chloride or bromide vesicles interacted with negatively charged prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells, yielding adsorption isotherms of high affinity for the cell surface, causing cell adhesion and flocculation, c Read More

Specific targeting of radionuclides is a promising approach to improve diagnosis and treatment of tumors. Targeting vectors may be monoclonal antibodies directed toward tumour-specific antigens or regulatory peptides binding to receptors overexpressed on or by malignant cells. Depending on the aim of the procedure and the biokinetics of the targeting vectors, radionuclides with different nuclear properties (decay scheme, Read More

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein is able to suppress tumor growth and to down-regulate many angiogenic factors, and is ubiquitously detected in adult and fetal tissues. This makes VHL an excellent target for therapeutic intervention. Observation of VHL alterations in sporadic tumors has been increasing as a result of examination of abnormalities other than intragenic mutations. These abnormalities include loss of chromo Read More

Glucagon-like peptide-1-(7-36)-amide (GLP-1) is a potent blood glucose-lowering hormone now under investigation for use as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of type 2 (adult onset) diabetes mellitus. GLP-1 binds with high affinity to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) located on pancreatic β-cells, and it exerts insulinotropic actions that include the stimulation of insulin gene transcription, insulin biosynthesis, and insulin secre Read More