Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 14, Issue 22, 2007

Nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) belong to the protein family of neurotrophins. They both display profound neuromodulatory functions and are essentially involved in the survival and homeostatic maintenance of central and peripheral neurons during development and adulthood. Moreover, NGF and BDNF are known to modulate immune cell function and thus serve as mediators in the Read More

The loss of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline occurs constantly in Parkinson's disease. This is supposed to worsen disease progression, either by increasing the vulnerability of dopamine-containing neurons or by reducing the recovery once they are damaged. Novel data also show that the loss of noradrenergic innervation facilitates the onset of dyskinesia occurring in Parkinsonian patients during dopamine replacement the Read More

Improvements in our understanding of the functions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) subtypes as master regulators of many biological functions have made it possible to develop novel PPAR ligands with characteristic subtype selectivity as biochemical tools and/or candidatedrugs for the treatment of PPAR-dependent diseases such as metabolic syndrome, which includes type II diabetes, dyslipidemi Read More

Knowledge of the structure and dynamics of proteins and protein assemblies is critical both for understanding the molecular basis of physiological and patho-physiological processes and for guiding drug design. While X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are both excellent techniques for this purpose, both suffer from limitations, including the requirement for high quality crystals and large amounts Read More

De novo lymphangiogenesis influences different pathological courses via modulating tissue fluid homeostasis, macromolecule absorption, and leukocyte transmigration. During the past decade, improved understanding of lymphatic biology, especially VEGF-C/- D/VEGFR-3-mediating lymphangiogenesis has substantially promoted clinical research in lymphatic insufficiency. The role of lymphangiogenesis in the setting o Read More

Apoptosis is involved in a wide range of pathologic conditions, including neurodegenerative, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Therefore, the ability to understand and manipulate the cell death machinery is an obvious goal of medical research. Novel therapeutic approaches to modulate disease by regulating apoptosis are being tested in preclinical and clinical settings. Approaches include the trad Read More

The process of developing drugs dates to antiquity. The herbal formulations during the old days were more traditional than with any scientific rationale. As different branches of physics, chemistry and biology started revealing the physiological processes in molecular details and as the sophisticated methods for probing into these phenomena were innovated, the processes of drug development changed significantly. Ho Read More

Two-thirds of stroke deaths worldwide occur in developing countries. The higher prevalence of undernutritional states and parasitic infestations in many of these countries could lead to vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies. Hyperhomocysteinemia, a proxy measure for the nutritional status of B vitamins, has been reported in many developing countries and is found to be associated with nutritionrelated low plasma folate and vita Read More

Periodontitis is bacterial infection of tooth-supporting tissues leading to inflammation and, subsequently, to loss of teeth. It is one of the most common infections worldwide. Recent studies have shown that periodontal infection may pose a threat to general health by increasing the risk of cardiovascular and lung diseases, and preterm labour. Thus, useful markers of systemic exposure to periodontitis are needed. Markers o Read More

The identification and exploration of new drug candidates to fight diseases is a major imperative for improving human health. The traditional mechanism utilised to identify new compounds with therapeutic potential has been to systematically analyse large libraries of small molecules for lead compounds with a desired bioactivity in protein or cell based assays. Identified lead compounds were subsequently assessed for th Read More