Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 23, Issue 3, 2016

PAC-1 induces the activation of procaspase-3 in vitro and in cell culture by chelation of inhibitory labile zinc ions via its ortho-hydroxy-N-acylhydrazone moiety. First reported in 2006, PAC-1 has shown promise in cell culture and animal models of cancer, and a Phase I clinical trial in cancer patients began in March 2015 (NCT02355535). Because of the considerable interest in this compound and a well-defined structur Read More

It is accepted that sphingolipids (SL) are not only structural lipids in cellular membranes, but also key regulators of different cell process. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a member of this family involved, inter alia, in cell migration, angiogenesis and cell proliferation processes, being able to play different intracellular and extracellular roles. When S1P is transported out of the cell, it binds S1P specific G protein-coupled Read More

Class I homeobox genes (Hox in mice and HOX in humans), encode for 39 transcription factors and display a unique genomic network organization mainly involved in the regulation of embryonic development and in the cell memory program. The HOX network controls the aberrant epigenetic modifications involving in the cell memory program. In details, the HOX cluster plays a crucial role in the generation and evolution of sev Read More

A polyelectrolyte is a polymer composed of repeating units of an electrolyte group that enables reversible complex formation with proteins in aqueous solutions. This review introduces “wrap-and-strip” technology of protein–polyelectrolyte complex (PPC) by noncovalent interaction. Storage: protein is stabilized against physical and chemical stresses. Enrichment: precipitation through PPC can be used as an enrichme Read More

Diabetes mellitus has been associated with a higher risk of exocrine pancreas disorders despite inconsistencies among studies, presumably due to the presence of several (often unmeasured) confounding factors. As a direct consequence of this uncertainty, the relationship between anti-diabetic therapies and pancreatic adverse reactions is difficult to evaluate and remains far from being clarified. Indeed, the on going de Read More