Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 16, Issue 13, 2009

Multiple lines of evidence shows that tumorigenesis is often associated with altered carbohydrate metabolism, characterized by increased glucose uptake and elevated glycolysis, which was first recognized by Otto Warburg 70 years ago. Therefore, the inhibition of glycolysis has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. However, this disordered glycotic process does not represent the whole picture of altere Read More

There is an urgent need for new antifungal agents that are both effective and non-toxic in the therapy of systemic mycoses. The model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used both to elucidate evolutionarily conserved components of host-pathogen interactions and to screen large chemical libraries for novel antimicrobial compounds. Here we review the use of C. elegans models in drug discovery and discuss caffeic Read More

Rhodanines, thiazolidine-2,4-diones and pseudothiohydantoins have become a very interesting class of heterocyclic compounds since the introduction of various glitazones and epalrestat into clinical use for the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus and diabetic complications, respectively. Chemical modifications of these heterocycles constantly result in compounds with a wide spectrum of pharmacological acti Read More

Application of calixarene derivatives in bio-medical researches is reviewed in this article. Antiviral, bactericidal, antithrombothic, antituberculosis, anticancer activity as well as specific protein complexation, membranotropic properties and toxicity of modified calixarenes are discussed.

Anthracyclines are among the most effective anticancer drugs ever developed. Unfortunately, their clinical use is severely limited by the development of a progressive dose-dependent cardiomyopathy that irreversibly evolves toward congestive heart failure, usually refractory to conventional therapy. The pathophysiology of anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy remains controversial and incompletely understoo Read More

Diaryl esters of α-aminophosphonates are a group of low molecular weight inhibitors of serine proteases. For over 30 years these molecules have captured the attention of biochemists and medicinal chemists due to their similarity to the transition state of peptide bond cleavage observed in enzymatic reactions (transition state analogs) as well as their high potency of action. High reactivity toward serine proteases and compl Read More