Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 13, Issue 14, 2006

The immune system responds efficiently to bacteria, viruses and other agents however, the immune response to cancers is not as effective. In most cases other than specific genetic rearrangements leading to nonself proteins such as in leukemia and idiotypes in lymphoma, tumor associated proteins are self proteins and are not recognized by the immune system to prevent malignancy. In most cancers, patients de Read More

Ceramide, a product of sphingolipid metabolism, is generated in response to various stress stimuli, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, CD95/Fas, chemotherapeutic agents, and irradiation. Ceramide may modulate the biochemical and cellular processes that lead to apoptosis. However, the mechanisms by which ceramide regulates apoptotic events are not fully defined. It is believed that the biological effect of ceramide dep Read More

The results of the search for new plasminogen activators for thrombolytic therapy have been reviewed with analysis of slowdown in this process. The reserves of increasing the effectiveness of thrombolysis are considered and the mechanisms underlying the interactions between plasminogen and its activators with fibrin are described. The domain composition of the fibrinolytic agents and the functional role of their structural el Read More

Stroke is a very frequent entity. It is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the developed world. At a population level, the common sporadic form of ischaemic stroke is underpinned by both environmental and genetic risk factors. Typically, in clinical practice, environmental risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other factors, are usually conside Read More

Atrial fibrillation represents a major clinical, social and economical matter, and its importance is expected to increase even more in the near future. The progressive ageing of population is associated with an inevitable rising in incidence and prevalence of this rhythm disorder, which limits functional capability, favours occurrence of cerebrovascular events and increases people's request for emergency room visits and hospi Read More

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoconstrictor secreted by endothelial cells, which acts as the natural counterpart of the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO). ET-1 contributes to vascular tone and regulates cell proliferation through activation of ETA and ETB receptors. Physical factors such as shear stress, or stimuli including thrombin, epinephrine, angiotensin II, growth factors, cytokines and free radicals enhance secretion of ET-1. By contras Read More

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are considered therapeutically important due to their involvement in a variety of processes governing several cellular functions, and their tractability as drug targets. A large percentage of drugs on the market, and in development stages, target the super family of the GPCRs. The enormous interest in GPCR drug design is, however, limited by the scarcity of structural information. The only Read More

Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD), an mRNA quality control mechanism, triggers degradation of mRNAs that contain premature termination codon (PTC) within their coding regions. NMD is a relatively conservative process that involves many trans-acting factors. The key domains for their function in NMD are conserved in evolution. These trans-acting factors are classified as different groups by their function in NMD. In addi Read More

The complement activation system, a key component of the innate immune system, protects the host from microorganisms such as bacteria, and other foreign threats including abnormal cells. However, it is also double-edged in that it can have negative effects in the host; excessive complement activation damages the host and can even kill in anaphylactic shock and septic shock. Regulation of the complement syste Read More