Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 19, Issue 32, 2012

Since its discovery in 1995 adiponectin has garnered considerable interest from the academic, clinical and biotech communities due to its proposed salutary anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic and cardioprotective properties. As a result our appreciation of adiponectin's structure and the importance of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in adiponectin production are now relatively advanced. So too, following t Read More

Pregnancy is a unique physiologic state that is associated with profound alterations in maternal metabolic, endocrine, and vascular function, designed to ensure the delivery of appropriate energy and nutrition to the developing fetus. In this context, the role of the fat-derived hormone adiponectin is of interest, particularly in light of emerging recognition of the broad array of physiologic processes upon which this adipok Read More

Adiponectin represents one of the most abundant and well-studied adipokines that has been implicated as a major protective factor against the adverse metabolic and cardiovascular consequences of obesity. The main insulin-sensitizing action of adiponectin results from decrease in hepatic gluconeogenesis and increase in muscle glucose transport and, secondly from enhancement of energy consumption and fatty acid oxid Read More

This review focuses on the recent findings that adiponectin plays a significant role of in cardiovascular diseases. Adipose tissue functions as an endocrine organ by secreting adipocytokines that can directly affect nearby or remote organs. Adiponectin is an adipocytokine whose concentration is down-regulated in subjects with obesity-related disorders. Low levels of circulating adiponectin appear to associate with Read More

The adipose tissue has recently emerged as an important endocrine organ releasing numerous mediators including adipocytokines, classical cytokines and others. Adiponectin, one of the major products of adipocytes, is a prototypic anti-diabetic adipocytokine, the actions of which are mainly exerted by the activation of AMP-activated kinase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha. This adipocytokine is on Read More

Adiponectin is the most abundant adipokine circulating in the organism. Different molecular forms of adiponectin exist: low, middle and high molecular isoforms, as well as globular adiponectin, all of which have different biological properties. Adiponectin is considered a key adipokine in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and related complications, especially cardiovascular diseases. In these Read More

Adiponectin has attracted widespread attention because of its pivotal role in glucose metabolism and energy homeostasis. Adiponectin and its receptor are shown to be expressed in osteoblasts, suggesting that adiponectin might affect bone metabolism. A number of clinical studies have shown that serum adiponectin is negatively associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and positively with biochemical markers of bone Read More

Adiponectin is a predominantly anti-inflammatory protein produced by adipose tissue with possible signalling activity in the lung. It is increasingly associated with inflammatory pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and in critical illness. Although mouse studies indicate causative associations between adiponectin and asthma and COPD, the human literature in this regard Read More

Adiponectin is an adipose tissue-derived hormone, expressed almost exclusively in adipose tissue, with significant antidiabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties. The anti-carcinogenic effects of adiponectin result from two main mechanisms: a modulation in the signaling pathways involved in proliferation process and a subtle regulation of the apoptotic response. In this review, we present rec Read More

In obesity, the expansion of dysfunctional adipose tissue leads to augmented production of pro-inflammatory adipokines that mediate metabolic changes through their paracrine and/or endocrine actions. By contrast, the secretion and plasma concentration of adiponectin, an adipokine with cardiovascular protective, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties, are markedly decreased in obesity and its related pathologies. Read More

About 30-40% of patients affected by non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) develop, during the course of their disease, bone metastases. The prognosis of these patients is poor with a median survival of less than 1 year. The therapeutic approach includes: palliative radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. In clinical practice, zoledronate is the most commonly used bisphosphonate to prevent, reduce the incidence and dela Read More

Raltegravir, the only drug targeting the integration step in HIV-1 life cycle, makes β-ketoenol integrase (IN) strand transfer inhibitor (STI) gain a definitive place in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. However, the emergence of viral strains resistant to β-ketoenol STI demands a continued effort toward the discovery of novel IN inhibitors interfering with HIV-1 IN in a mechanistically different manner. Polyphenols, among the most Read More

Virtual screening methods have been developed and explored as useful tools for searching drug lead compounds from chemical libraries, including large libraries that have become publically available. In this review, we discussed the new developments in exploring virtual screening methods for enhanced performance in searching large chemical libraries, their applications in screening libraries of ~ 1 million or more compounds i Read More

Genetic engineering of stem cells and their derivatives has the potential to enhance their regenerative capabilities. Here, dendrimer- and lipofection-based approaches were used for non-viral neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) over-expression in Schwann cells differentiated from skin precursors (SKP-SCs). A variety of dendrimers were first tested for transfection efficiency on HEK 293T cells, with PAMAMNH2 G4 found most effecti Read More

Angiogenesis is a key step in the tumoral progression process. It is characterized by an over-expression of a number of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Among these MMPs, gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) are known to play a critical role in tumor angiogenesis and the growth of many cancers. Photodynamic Molecular Beacons (PMB) can be designed for cancer treatment by associating a chlorin-like photosensitizer and Read More