Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 19, Issue 26, 2012

Eleven years after the start of a new millennium characterized by amazing scientific development, the cure for cancer remains a major challenge for humanity. In this regard, scientific efforts have focused on the search for new therapeutic targets that involve specific recognition and stop the spread of cancer cells, as well as the development of new therapeutic options that show greater specificity and better therapeutic effica Read More

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are debilitating stem cell-derived clonal myeloid malignancies. Conventional treatments for the BCR-ABL1-negative MPN including polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) have, so far, been unsatisfactory. Following the discovery of dysregulated JAK-STAT signaling in patients with MPN, many efforts have been directed toward the developme Read More

The increase in the therapeutic arsenal in the last 20 years, has given rise to changes in treating colorectal cancer (CRC) with only pyrimidines to combine several cytotoxic drugs. However, the present question is to determine the optimal sequence of this combination. This review presents an update of data on chemical and clinical features of chemotherapy used for colorectal cancer and the mechanisms of cellular resistance Read More

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which are normal products of cell metabolism, may play a dual beneficial/deleterious role, depending on local concentration and mode of generation. As such, they have been identified as key pathogenic factors for many inflammatory and degenerative disorders, carcinogenesis, nociception and ageing. In this perspective, low molecular weight transition metal complexes with organic liga Read More

Biosimilar medicines already on the market may have a primary structure identical to their reference products (e.g., amino acid sequences should be identical). In the case of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and due to their more complex structure, a greater level of demand would be in order and identity at other levels (e.g., post-translational modifications within the Fc region of the molecule) should be proved to establish “sim Read More

The development of techniques for efficient peptide production renewed interest in peptides as therapeutics. Numerous modifications for improving stability, transport and affinity profiles now exist. Several new adjuvant and carrier systems have also been developed, enhancing the immunogenicity of peptides thus allowing their development as vaccines. This review describes the established and experimental appro Read More

Obesity is a major public health problem, resulting from an excess of energy storage and/or a default of energy expenditure leading to the increased occurrence of cardiovascular risk factors that favour the development of vascular complications. As a consequence, many studies are interested to find novel therapeutic chemical including flavonoids that appear to be promising natural compounds to treat obesity and it Read More

Batracylin (8-aminoisoindol[1,2-b]-quinasolin-12(10H)-one, BAT), a heterocyclic amine, was isolated in 1978 (NCI, Bethesda, USA) in the course of search for the new anticancer drugs. It showed high in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities against murine leukemia P338 and colon adenocarcinoma 38. Mechanism of action of BAT is still not completely clear. It was reported, that BAT is a topoisomerase II inhibitor an Read More

With the increasing production of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) exploited in many consumer products, a wider number of people is expected to be exposed to such materials in the near future, both in occupational and environmental settings. This has raised concerns about the possible implications on public health. In particular, very recently the scientific community has focused on the effect that ENMs might exert on th Read More

The hydrophobic character of most drug molecules and their potential for degradation under the hostile environment of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) constitutes the main obstacle in the development of a successful oral drug delivery system, since these are related to limitations of bioavailability and absorption processes. However, according to the advantages of the oral route, alternative ways of drug administratio Read More

Expanded newborn screening for inherited metabolic disorders using tandem mass spectrometry was introduced in 1990's and is widely used around the world. In contrast to conventional screening methods, tandem mass spectrometry does not measure single analytes but identifies and quantifies metabolite profiles; one single blood spot analyzed provides information of about 60 metabolites including amino acids, acylca Read More

Withdrawal of promising drug candidates is often due to the detection of liver toxicity. In particular the parenchymal liver cells or hepatocytes are targeted since they are the major sites of drug transport and of metabolite formation and thus also the place where not only detoxification, but also activation of new chemical (NCE) and biological (NBE) entities may occur. Therefore, primary hepatocyte- based cultures are currently t Read More

The therapeutic potential of gallic acid and its derivatives as anti-cancer, antimicrobial and antiviral agents is well known. We have examined the mechanism by which natural gallic acid and newly synthesized gallic acid alkyl esters and related protocatechuic acid alkyl esters inhibit HIV-1 protease to compare the influence of the aromatic ring substitutions on inhibition. We used Zhang-Poorman's kinetic analysis and fluore Read More

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic and idiopathic gastrointestinal inflammation mediated by disregulated immune responses. Artemisinin (a chemical from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine Artemisia annua L.) and its derivatives have been proven to exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis with low side-e Read More