Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 17, Issue 12, 2010

Src family tyrosine kinases (SFKs) play key roles in regulating signal transduction in cellular processes. However, hyper-activated SFKs lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation and cancers. For both Src SH2 and SH3 domains involve in the regulation of tumorigenesis signal pathways, the SH2 and SH3 inhibition strategies are expected to block the protein-protein interactions between SFKs and their corporation proteins to aboli Read More

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) not only impedes the influx of intravascular substances from blood to brain, but also promotes transport of substances from blood to brain or from brain to blood through several transport systems such as carrier-mediated transport, active efflux transport, and receptor-mediated transport systems. The multidrug resistance transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an ATP-dependent eff Read More

Platensimycin, an active metabolite of Streptomyces platensis, was initially discovered by a combination of RNA interferin induced gene-silencing and library screening to microbial extracts. Platensimycin selectively inhibits β- ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthase II (FabF) that is recognized as an effective broad-spectrum antibiotic against drug-resistant microorganism strains. Its novel scaffold and extraordinary Read More

Dendritic cells (DCs) link innate and adaptive immunity by directly recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on bacteria. DCs can capture and degrade bacteria and present their antigens on MHC molecules to T cells. PAMP recognition promotes DC maturation, a phenotypic change that empowers them to prime naïve T cells. As a result, an adaptive immune response that specifically targets bacte Read More

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate senses such as odor, taste, vision, and pain in mammals. In addition, important cell recognition and communication processes often involve GPCRs. Many diseases involve malfunction of GPCRs, making them important targets for drug development. Indeed, greater than 50 % of all marketed therapeutics act on those receptors. Unfortunately, the atomic-level structures Read More

Arachidonic acid metabolites, eicosanoids, are key contributors to vascular function and improper eicosanoid regulation contributes to the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are synthesized from arachidonic acid by epoxygenase enzymes to four regioisomers, 5,6-EET, 8,9-EET, 11,12-EET, and 14,15-EET. These EETs have interesting beneficial effects like vasodilation, anti-inflammat Read More

Madagascar, the world's fourth biggest island has a unique biodiversity. The interest on the phytochemical investigation of Malagasy plant and marine natural products started from the isolation of the potent anti-cancerous bisindole alkaloids: vinblastine and vincristine. In this paper, work published in the last two decades (1991-2009) on 262 new natural products isolated from Malagasy higher plants, liverworts and marine Read More