Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 18, Issue 29, 2011

Atherosclerosis and related heart disease is strongly associated with elevated blood levels of total (and LDL) cholesterol. Due to the widespread incidence as well as severity of this pathological condition, major efforts have been made for the discovery and development of hypocholesteroleamic agents. In the past few decades, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are being extensively used as lipid loweri Read More

Recurrent prostate cancer (PCa) remains a major clinical challenge. Invasive and metastatic PCa lesions often exhibit a partial and time-limited response to therapy before the cancer progresses and the patient succumbs to the disease. Despite recent advances in early diagnosis and treatment, approximately one-third of treated patients will relapse and become resistant to currently available treatments. In this revie Read More

This review summarizes the current knowledge of the regulatory role of pure anthocyans in cellular signaling pathways and gene expression. The molecular basis for anthocyans pharmacological activity includes the regulation of plethora of mechanisms mainly involved in: (1) suppression of the inflammatory response through targeting the phospholipase A2 and PI3K/Akt and NF-κB pathways, (2) protection from cardiovascula Read More

Our ongoing search for a fully-effective vaccine against the Plasmodium falciparum parasite (causing the most lethal form of human malaria) has been focused on identifying and characterising proteins' amino acid sequences (high activity binding peptides or HABPs) involved in parasite invasion of red blood cells (RBC) by the merozoite and hepatocytes by the sporozoite. Many such merozoite HABPs have been recognise Read More

In this research, we have covalently functionalized graphene oxide (GO) with hydrophilic and biocompatible Pluronic F38 (F38), Tween 80 (T80) and maltodextrin (MD) for loading and delivery of a poorly water soluble antioxidant and anticancer drug, ellagic acid (EA). The functionalized GO showed a good aqueous solubility and biocompatibility. This is the first time that the EA was loaded onto GO-F38, GO-T80 and GO-MD thr Read More

HIV protease plays a crucial role in the viral life cycle by processing the viral Gag and Gag-Pol polyproteins into structural and functional proteins essential for viral maturation. Inhibition of HIV-1 protease leads to the production of noninfectious virus particles and hence is an important therapeutic target for antiviral therapy in AIDS patients. Among many strategies to combat this disease, highly active antiretroviral ther Read More

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most potent antimetabolites which have been widely used in the treatment of advanced solid tumors. As an anticancer agent, because of its low efficacy and high toxicity, numerous modifications of 5-FU structure have been performed. A great number of novel 5-FU derivatives have been developed with highly efficient and much less toxic. In this paper, the recent development of novel 5-F Read More

Phytosterols (PSs) are a group of plant derived steroid alcohols, with wide occurrence in vegetables and fruits. They are integral components of plant cell membranes, having stabilizing effects on phospholipids bilayer, just like cholesterol in animal cell membranes. Structural resemblance of PSs with cholesterol enables them to displace low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the human intestine. Protective effects of PSs a Read More