Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 15, Issue 30, 2008

Oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®) is the only orally active anti-influenza drug that potently inhibit neuraminidase. The recent emergence of avian flu, especially the H5N1 type, makes the situation of Tamiflu supply and demand increasingly serious. Further optimization of the current commercial approach and exploration of new synthetic routes are urgent. Here, different synthetic strategies of oseltamivir phosphate Read More

Cell-based electrochemical biosensors have contributed tremendously to the fields of biology, medicine, chemistry, pharmacology, and environmental science. With electrochemical transducers and whole cells as the recognition elements, these biosensors provide new horizons for biosensing and life science research. This review focuses on the research accomplishments on this topic over the last three years, and is Read More

One of the most exciting concepts being explored in cancer research today is the idea of cancer stem cells. Evidence for the existence of such cells was first proposed for haematological malignancies and, more recently, for solid tumors, including breast, brain, colon and pancreatic cancer. The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that a minority of transformed stem cells, or progenitors with acquired self-renewal properties, are th Read More

Staphylococcus growth on medical devices represents a common occurrence that can lead to serious illness and death. Biomaterial-associated infection, mostly caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, is fairly complicated by the organism'development of a biofilm, which provides a microenvironment that protects from attack by the host immune system and antibiotics. In this review we present rece Read More

Drug repositioning strategy is an interesting approach for pharmaceutical companies ; especially to increase their productivity. SELNERGYtm, is a reverse docking based-program able to virtually screen thousands of compounds on more than 2000 3D biological targets. This program was successfully applied to tofisopam and revealed that the isomers of tofisopam are able to fit with phosphodiesterase 4. This old drug was Read More

Despite current optimal treatment, the morbidity and mortality of coronary heart disease remain significant worldwide and open the way for the development of novel cardioprotective therapies. In the last two decades, a remarkable scientific effort has focused on the limitation of infarct size. Important input from experimental studies has led the way in this direction. However, clinical and preclinical results using various cardio Read More

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), a monoamine neurotransmitter of the central nervous and peripheral systems (CNS), plays a critical role in a wide variety of physiological and behavioral processes. In the serotonergic system, deregulation of the tightly controlled extracellular concentration of 5-HT appears to be at the origin of a host of metabolic and psychiatric disorders. A key step that regulates 5-HT extern Read More

Increasing evidence indicates the existence of an association between nervous and immune systems. The two systems communicate with each-other to maintain immune homeostasis. Activated immune cells secrete cytokines that influence central nervous system activity. Nervous system, through its peripheral and/or autonomic divisions activates output regulating levels of immune cell activity and the subsequent magnitud Read More

Alkannins and Shikonins (A/S) are chiral-pairs of naturally occurring isohexenylnaphthazarins. They are found in the external layer of the roots of at least a hundred and fifty species that belong mainly to the genera Alkanna, Lithospermum, Echium, Onosma and Arnebia of the Boraginaceae family. Their occurrence in Jatropha glandulifera, a member of the Euphorbiaceae, should be considered as an exception. Pharmaceutic Read More

Copper is an essential trace element and several copper containing proteins are indispensable for such processes as oxidative respiration, neural development and collagen remodeling. Copper metabolism is precisely regulated by several transporters and chaperone proteins. Copper Transport Protein 1 (CTR1) selectively uptakes copper into cells. Subsequently three chaperone proteins, HAH1 (human atx1 homologue Read More

In our review entitled ‘Non-nucleoside inhibitors of NS5B polymerase binding to allosteric sites: 3D- QSAR and molecular docking studies’ in the Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, 15(15), 1462-77. We wish to correct mistakes in the authorship and their units of the manuscript.

In our review entitled ‘Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in the Management of HIV-Infected Patients’ in the Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, 15(19), 1925-39.