Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 18, Issue 20, 2011

Targeting cancer with small molecule irreversible inhibitors of kinases represents an emerging challenge in drug discovery. Irreversible inhibitors bind to kinase active site in a covalent and irreversible form, most frequently by reacting with a nucleophilic cysteine residue, located near the ATP binding pocket. The most common mechanism is the Michael reaction, that refers to the addition of a nucleophile, such as cysteine, to a Read More

mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) is a serine-threonine kinase belonging to the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway that is involved in several cell functions, including growth, proliferation, apoptosis and autophagy. mTOR hyperactivation has been detected in several human cancers, thus representing, together with its upstream effectors, an important target for cancer therapy. mTOR exists in two different complexes in ce Read More

Compounds currently used for the treatment of HIV-1 Infections are targeted to viral proteins. However, the high intrinsic mutation and replication rates of HIV-1 often lead to the emergence of drug resistant strains and consequent therapeutic failure. On this basis, cellular cofactors represent attractive new targets for HIV-1 chemotherapy, since targeting a cellular factor that is required for viral replication should help to overc Read More

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. Lately, this disease has often been related to the protein kinase called glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), through the experimental evidence of alterations of this enzyme on ALS patients. Therefore, there have been several experimental studies using GSK-3 inhibitors, in cellular and animal models and also in clinic Read More

Tumor blood vessels are an important emerging target for anti-cancer therapy. The antimitotic agent combretastatin A-4 (CA- 4), a cis-stilbene natural product isolated from the South African tree Combretum caffrum Kuntze, is the lead compound of a new class of anti-cancer drugs that target tumor vasculature. CA-4 inhibits tubulin polymerization by interacting at the colchicine binding site on tubulin. This alters the mor Read More

After years of viewing cirrhosis as the irreversible end-stage of liver fibrosis, it has been shown recently that the possibility of its reversal is no longer a dream. Several studies on experimental animal models showed possible spontaneous resolution of fibrosis after the removal of fibrogenic stimulus. Similar results were also observed in human patients with liver fibrosis due to autoimmune hepatitis and biliary etiology. Howev Read More

Conventional treatment for metastatic bone pain requires a multidisciplinary approach (medical therapy, surgery, and radiation), but is primarily palliative. Biphosphonates introduced the concept of disease-modifying therapy, by effectively reducing bone pain and skeletal related events in patients suffering from bone metastatic cancer. In the past decade, the growing knowledge of bone biology and our understanding of th Read More

Bioactivation of xenobiotics can, in certain circumstances, result in the formation of reactive electrophilic species. These reactive metabolites may covalently modify proteins and macromolecules and it has been suggested that protein modification is a key initial step in provoking idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions. Understanding these bioactivation pathways is critical in order to rationally design drug candidates with a lower Read More