Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 20, Issue 31, 2013

A variety of peptides active in biological pathways have been identified e.g. receptor antagonists or inhibitors of protein–protein interactions and several peptide or peptide-derived compounds are on the drug market or in clinical trials. Through the rational design or the combinatorial preparation and High-throughput screening of arrays of compounds, peptides play a pivotal role for the rapid identification of ligands, b Read More

Epidemiological and family studies have provided evidence on the role of genetic factors in stroke, particularly in stroke occurring at young age. However, despite its impact, young stroke continues to be understudied. This article reviews the existing literature on the most investigated monogenic disorders (CADASIL, Fabry disease, MELAS, RVCL, COL4A1, Marfan and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes) causing stroke in young an Read More

In this paper, we discussed our recent experience with the use of computational modeling tools in studying the binding interaction of small molecular weight ligands with their protein targets. Specific examples discussed here include the interaction of estrogens with human protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and its pancreas-specific homolog (PDIp), and the interaction of dietary flavonoids with human cyclooxygenase Read More

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) (also known as seven-transmembrane domain receptor) superfamily represents the largest protein family in the human genome. These receptors respond to various physiological ligands such as photons, odors, pheromones, hormones, ions, and small molecules including amines, amino acids to large peptides and steroids. Thus, GPCRs are involved in many diseases and the target of ar Read More

In 1977 an unknown natural product was isolated from Streptomyces staurosporeus by Omura et al. during a search for new alkaloids present in actinomycetes and was given the name AM-2282. Later, the structure of AM-2282 was elucidated by single crystal X-ray analysis and renamed as staurosporine. It has been published that staurosporine and its analogues display strong inhibitory effect against a variety of kinases and Read More

Marine organisms have been developed as a new source of naturally occurring alkaloids. The bioactive scaffolds of marine alkaloids govern the cross-kingdom actions, possessing “unexpectedly” cytotoxic-related antitumor activities against human cancer cell lines. And the actions of marine alkaloids toward mammalian cells have been well substantiated by the recognition of their analogues as antitumor and enzyme modulat Read More

Influenza A virus, which has a high rate of morbidity and mortality, has become a serious threat to human health and society. Because of antigenic variation, the application of influenza vaccination is limited. Till now, the current antivirals are mainly against the M2 protein (such as adamantanes) and the neuraminidase (such as zanamivir and oseltamivir). However, many viral strains have developed resistance to these marketed a Read More

This paper examines the formation and stability of nano-complexes that could provide a new therapeutic approach against HIV-1 infection. Poly(propylene imine) glycodendrimers decorated with 2nd generation cationic carbosilane dendrons were generated and their use in polyplex formation checked. Owing to their positively-charged terminal amino groups the hybrid glycodendrimers can bind anionic peptides. It wa Read More

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of obesity-related atherosclerosis. The molecular mechanism of GA on oleic acid (OA)-induced proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cell is evaluated. Cells were treated with OA (150 μM), or co-treated with OA and GA (10-30 μM) for 48 h, MTT assay was performed for proliferation. Using flow cytometry analysis, the GA-treated c Read More