Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 15, Issue 23, 2008

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting nearly 3 million patients in Europe and North America, characterized by a core phenotype of motor deficits, akinesia, rigidity, postural disturbance and tremor, which is complicated by other neurological deficits during its long progression. Our knowledge about the pathophisiology of PD was limited, up to 25 years ago, to the observation of the lesion of the nigr Read More

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in adults. The current therapy for AD has only moderate efficacy in controlling symptoms, and it does not cure the disease. Recent studies have suggested that abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau in the brain plays a vital role in the molecular pathogenesis of AD and in neurodegeneration. This article reviews the current advances in understanding of tau pr Read More

The research on high hydrostatic pressure in medicine and life sciences is multifaceted. According to the used pressure head the research has to be divided into two different parts. To study physiological aspects of pressure on eukaryotic cells physiological pressure (pHHP; < 100 MPa) is used. pHHP induces morphological alterations in the cellular organelles and evokes a reversible stress response similar to the well known heat Read More

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are an attractive therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases, since they play a major role in immune regulation. iNKT cells recognize glycolipid antigens presented by CD1d molecules that resemble the non-polymorphic MHC class I protein. α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) isolated from marine sponge has long been used as a prototype iNKT cell ligand in the laboratory. As α-G Read More

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are a superfamily of heme containing proteins that catalyze xenobiotic metabolism phase I reactions. Oxidation reactions are the most common CYP-catalyzed reactions for both endogenous substrates and exogenous compounds, including drugs, although CYP enzymes are capable also to catalyze reduction reactions. Whereas the majority of clinically used drugs are inactivated by CYPs, se Read More

GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), a decapeptide produced by the hypothalamus, plays an important role in the reproduction by regulating the pituitary-gonadal axis. Continuous high doses of GnRH or its superactive agonists result in desensitization of the pituitary gonadotropes and a suppression of sex steroid production by the gonads (chemical castration). Based on these effects, the treatment with GnRH agonists ha Read More

Pharmacological studies highlighted pleiotropic effects of statins, that seem to influence atherogenesis not only by increasing atherosclerotic plaque stability but also by modulating endothelial function and inflammation and acting on platelet aggregation and thrombosis. Despite a strong association between increased levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) h Read More

Cancer can be defined as a deviated protein network system toward dysregulated cellular proliferation. Alteration in the content and functional state of the proteins with many linkages may shift the equilibrium state of the protein signaling network to enhance a survival advantage of the affected cells. Searching for such hub proteins is the main purpose of the cancer proteomics. Although the progression in the vanguard Read More

Pyridinium aldoximes are used as antidotes to organophosphorus cholinesterase inhibitors. All pyridinium aldoximes (oximes) are highly polar quaternary ammonium compounds showing low to minimal blood-brain-barrier (BBB) penetration. Oximes are separated using reversed-phase (RP) HPLC methods and/or thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The chemical structures, elementary compositions, molecular sizes and the calc Read More