Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 22, Issue 2, 2015

Pyoverdine is the generic name given to a vast family of fluorescent green-yellowish pigments produced by Pseudomonas species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen, particularly infecting humans with compromised natural defenses. These infections result in significantly higher morbidity, longer hospitalization, increased mortality rates and excess health care costs. P. aeruginosa is very difficult to eradicat Read More

The rising emergence of antibiotic resistance urges the search for new strategies to defeat microorganisms that lead to persistent infections of the host. Tolerant to antibiotics, slowly replicating bacteria often cause latent and persistent infections that are the most challenging for pharmacological treatment. Persistence inside the host requires an extensive re-programming of the pathogen metabolic functions, due Read More

Peptide deformylase (PDF) is a class of metalloenzyme responsible for catalyzing the removal of the N-formyl group from N-terminal methionine following translation. PDF inhibitors are moving into new phase of drug development. Initially, PDF was considered as an important target in antibacterial drug discovery; however genome database searches have revealed PDF-like sequences in parasites (P. falciparum) and hu Read More

Cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK2) is a member of protein kinase family. It plays an important role in regulating various events of eukaryotic cell division cycle. Accumulated evidences indicated that over expression of CDK2 should cause the abnormal regulation of cell-cycle, which would be directly associated with hyperproliferation in cancer cells. Therefore, CDK2 was regarded as a potentially therapeutic target for cancer t Read More

The activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NFΚB), a proinflammatory transcription factor, is a commonly observed phenomenon in breast cancer. It facilitates the development of a hormone-independent, invasive, high-grade, and late-stage tumor phenotype. Moreover, the commonly used cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy approaches activate NFΚB, leading to the development of invasive breast cancers that show res Read More