Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 21, Issue 2, 2014

Glycoprotein 96 (Gp96)-peptide complexes are highly investigated for vaccines preparation, particularly in cancer therapy. Gp96, formerly called tumor rejection antigen (TRA)-1, is able to elicit an immune response that can protect mice against tumors, when the mice share the same haplotype than those bearing the tumors from which Gp96 was purified. Secreted Gp96-peptide complexes act as danger signals thereb Read More

Voltage-gated sodium channels are large transmembrane protein complexes responsible for the propagation and transmission of electrical impulses through nerve, muscle and endocrine cells and cell systems. Dysregulated expression and/or functional changes of ion channel isoforms are found in many associated pathological conditions. In such cases, modulation of voltage gated sodium channels (NaV channels) is a r Read More

Cannabinoids have potential therapeutic value e.g. in pain relief, cancer therapy, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation, but their therapeutic benefits are limited by unwanted central nervous system (CNS) side-effects. Separating the therapeutic effects of cannabinoid agonists from their undesired CNS effects can be achieved by either increasing the selectivity of the ligands for the CB2 receptor or by developin Read More

Curcumin is the major yellow pigment extracted from turmeric, a commonly used spice in Asian cuisine and extensively employed in ayurvedic herbal remedies. A number of studies have shown that curcumin can be a prevention and a chemotherapeutic agent for colon, skin, oral and intestinal cancers. Curcumin is also well known for its antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties, showing high reactivity towards pero Read More

The prognosis of malignancies in young women undergoing chemotherapy has dramatically improved recently, and more attention is given to the long term quality of life, including fertility and reproductive function preservation. Some chemotherapeutic drugs are known to be associated with gonadal toxicity (cyclophosphamide, L-phenylanine mustard, busulfan and nitrogen mustard) and others have less or un-quantified effec Read More

Metastable aldehydes produced by lipid peroxidation act as 'toxic second messengers' that extend the injurious potential of free radicals. 4-hydroxy 2-nonenal (HNE), a highly toxic and most abundant stable end product of lipid peroxidation, has been implicated in the tissue damage, dysfunction, injury associated with aging and other pathological states such as cancer, Alzheimer, diabetes, cardiovascular and inflammatory compli Read More

Following the report of beneficial effects of co-infection by GB virus C (GBV-C) for HIV-infected patients, we have studied synthetic GBV-C peptides and their relationship with HIV type-1. This paper reports the design and synthesis of new forms of presentation of two peptide inhibitors corresponding to the envelope proteins E1 and E2 of GBV-C, together with a study of their anti-HIV-1 activity. Homogeneous and heterog Read More